Mr. Nguyen Van Loi - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial Delegation of National Assembly Deputies, Head of the Provincial Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control chaired the meeting.
Attending were Mr. Vo Van Minh - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; leaders of provincial departments, committees, branches and People's Committees of districts, towns and cities.
The number of cases highly increased
As reported by the Department of Health, in the past 07 days (from February 28, 2022 to March 06, 2022), the number of new cases announced in the province in the week was 14,805 cases (7 times higher than the previous week); an average of 2,115 new cases are announced every day. The number of cases cured/discharged/completed treatment F0 was 10,015; on average, 1,431 cases were cured/discharged/completed treatment every day. There were no deaths during the week. The number of teachers, children and students infected with Covid-19 (F0) during face-to-face teaching activities detected in schools and classrooms was very small; mainly detected at home with 1,340 cases/day.
Regarding the number of cases through rapid test, the entire province had 43,274 test cases, detected 25,689 positive cases, accounting for 59.3%, on average detecting about 3,669 positive rapid test cases per day.
Overview of the meeting
The rate of infection/100,000 people/week in the province was 961 cases. Specifically, Bau Bang 2,191 cases; Di An 1,916 cases; Bac Tan Uyen 1,316 cases; Dau Tieng 1,209 cases; Thuan An 991 cases; Ben Cat 927 cases; Tan Uyen 185 cases; Phu Giao 149 cases; Thu Dau Mot 134 cases.
In which, cases detected at medical facilities accounted for 34%; community screening accounted for 17.7%; lockdown area accounted for 29.1%; quarantine area accounted for 4%; companies accounted for 15.3%.
According to statistics of the Health branch, in the past few days, the number of Covid-19 cases has continuously increased higher than the previous week. The peak was from February 28 to March 06, 2022 with 25,689 cases, the highest on March 05, 2022 recorded 4,555 positive cases through rapid test. The reason for the increase is due to the need for travel, while the entire country is gradually reopening activities, schools in the area have allowed students to go for face-to-face learning, and companies have gradually opened to welcome workers back to work, leading to an increase in people infected with Covid-19.
Assessing the pandemic level in the week, level 1 has 64 communes, wards and towns; level 2 has 21 communes, wards and towns, level 3 has 02 communes and towns (Tan Hung commune, Lai Uyen town in Bau Bang district).
In the province, there are 16 Covid-19 treatment areas/facilities which are treating more than 700 F0; and 31,566 F0 are being treated at home. In the past 07 days, 685 F0 cases were recorded at treatment facilities (up 100.9% compared to the previous week); the number of cases transferred to the 3rd floor was 04 cases (up 02 cases compared to the previous week); the number of severe cases of mechanical ventilation was 40 (down 14.9%); the number of deaths was 04 cases (not increasing or decreasing compared to the previous week).
The number of patients receiving collection and treatment in the unvaccinated group was 7,547, of which 7,386 were in children under 12 years old. Common in primary school age group, this age group has not been vaccinated and is not aware of compliance with 5K. The highest was Di An with 3,242 cases, Thuan An 1,370 cases, Ben Cat 958 cases. All are boarding students.
The 3rd dose vaccination is still slow
According to a report on the National Immunization Management System, children from 12 to 17 years old in the province received the first dose of 192,825 doses/194,210 of the population, reaching 99.1%; the second dose of 154,089 doses, reaching 89.9% compared to the first dose. The number of unvaccinated second dose is 37,624.
The Covid-19 vaccination rate of first dose for people aged 12 and over is 2,669,541 doses/2,060.444 of the population, reaching 129.6%; second dose is 2,152,586 doses/2,060.444 population, reaching 104.5%; third dose is 1,185,636 doses/2,060.444 population, reaching 57.5%.
The progress of the 3rd dose vaccination in the province is still slow
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in the province, the reason for 3rd/2nd dose vaccination is still low because a part of the people have not had enough time to get the 3rd dose, because of the late vaccination and having a time of F0; a part of the people have a subjective mentality when they have had 2 doses, so when there is a campaign to inject the 3rd dose, they do not want to go for the vaccination right away and some other people's apprehension although branches and levels have made efforts to propagate, mobilize and announce the schedule, time and place of vaccination.
"Binh Duong is the province with the largest number of immigrants in the country, the number of workers coming to Binh Duong changes frequently. The target population is mobile (going back home to celebrate Tet). People did not not go for injections during Tet, etc. After social distancing, workers going back their hometowns did not return to Binh Duong to work, so it also affected vaccination" - Mr. Nguyen Kieu Uyen - Director of the provincial CDC said.
Strictly managing the purchase and sale of drugs for Covid-19 treatment
According to the Department of Health, Molnupiravir is a new drug, it is necessary to continue to monitor the quality, effectiveness and safety of the drug during circulation. Currently, the drug has been granted a conditional circulation license by the Drug Administration of Vietnam - the Ministry of Health for 3 years and must be strictly controlled for quality, safety and effectiveness after being licensed. Molnupiravir, when licensed for circulation, is a drug that must be prescribed, and people can only use it when there is a prescription from a physician or doctor. The arbitrary use of drugs by people carries many potential risks due to unwanted effects of the drug as well as the possibility of creating new variants of viruses. In the UK, US, Japan and some countries where Molnupiravir has been approved for emergency use, it can only be prescribed by a physician, an advanced practice registered nurse, licensed physician assistant, and legally licensed to prescribe.
However, in reality, the number of Covid-19 patients is increasing day by day (mainly mild and moderate cases, being treated and quarantined at home). Purchase of antiretroviral drugs to treat Covid-19 requires a prescription from a doctor, leading to an overload for the system and medical staff, at the same time, patients do not have early access to the drug while antiretroviral drugs for Covid-19 are indicated for mild and moderate cases and are recommended to be used early (within 05 days from symptom onset or positive result).
In order to better manage the purchase and sale of Monulpiravir, the Department of Health recommends that the People's Committees of districts, towns and cities regularly check drug retail establishments, do not allow speculation, consolidation, price increase, etc. according to the content of Official Dispatch no. 1492/QLD-PCTTr dated March 03, 2022 of the Drug Administration of Vietnam.
Aggressively deploying solutions to complete the 3rd dose vaccination
To accomplish the goal of 3rd dose vaccination in March 2022, Mr. Nguyen Hong Chuong - Director of the Department of Health said, the Department has held a meeting with Medical centers of districts, towns and cities to implement the 3rd dose vaccination plan in March 2022. Specifically, the implementation period is from March 08, 2022 to March 31, 2022; the number of subjects to be vaccinated is 440,500 people. Specific implementation activities include: Statistics of subjects, currently, localities have been urgently collecting information and registering subjects receiving the 3rd dose; propagandizing and mobilizing people to continue receiving the 3rd dose; organizing safe vaccination sessions simultaneously deployed at 91/91 health stations of communes, wards and towns; entering data on National Immunization Management System and making statistics and reports in a timely manner.
Regarding the implementation of vaccination for children aged 5-11 years old, the Department of Health has submitted a proposal to advise the Provincial People's Committee to issue a Covid-19 vaccination plan for children aged 5-11 years old in Binh Duong province in 2022. Accordingly, the expected time for vaccination is from April 01, 2022 to April 30, 2022 (when the vaccine is allocated by the Ministry of Health, it will be administered immediately).
In addition, improving the quality of Covid-19 treatment on all tiers, taking good care of F0 at home, especially F0 students, making sure to have enough medicine, oxygen, anti-pandemic supplies and testing supplies at all levels. Implementing well the work of protecting and taking care of "at-risk groups" with Covid-19 infection for good treatment, in order to reduce deaths and severe complications.
According to Mr. Pham Van Bay - Vice Chairman of Di An City People's Committee, the city places the task of vaccinating people as a top one, organizes a campaign of Covid-19 vaccination "more quickly" to complete the 3rd dose for people over 18 years old in March, vaccinate the 2nd dose for remaining children 12-17 years old and people 18 years and older; develops a plan to organize vaccination for children aged 5-11 in the city when the Ministry of Health provides vaccines.
Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Vo Van Minh basically agreed with the plan to deploy the 3rd dose vaccination and vaccinate for children aged 5-11 in the province. Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Vo Van Minh requested that localities must drastically implement solutions to speed up the vaccination schedule and update vaccination data on the management system.
Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Van Loi speaks at the meeting
Speaking at the meeting, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Van Loi said that although the number of cases has increased recently, all three criteria have been reduced: hospitalization, severe cases and death. The Secretary emphasized that the practice affirms that vaccines are the safest "shields" in pandemic prevention and control, but the organization of the vaccination campaign in the past time has not been methodical, the vaccination spirit of "going every alley, knocking door-to-door, checking every person" for the people is being forgotten. In order to promote speed and more speed in vaccination, the Secretary suggested that departments, branches and localities coordinate with all measures and ways, by March 20, 2022 to complete the vaccination of 1st and 2nd doses for the remaining people, and booster dose (3rd dose) and prepare vaccination for children aged 5-11 years old. Localities must organize vaccination forces well, deploy more vaccination sites in the evening to create favorable conditions for people to get injections. Next Monday, the localities must report the situation with changes and clear implementation results. The Secretary wished localities and units to try harder, especially in vaccination, if we are slow in vaccination, the pandemic will always exist.
Reported by Mai Xuan- Translated by Thanh Tam