Viet Nam’s COVID-19 response has been praised for its effectiveness and is designed to keep us all safe, said British Ambassador to Viet Nam Gareth Ward in a recent interview with the Viet Nam Government Portal. 

British Ambassador to Viet Nam Gareth Ward

One year ago, there were around 5,000 British tourists visiting Viet Nam when COVID-19 started to spread.  Many of them were quarantined, and some of them were found positive and taken to hospital, said Gareth Ward, adding that  the Vietnamese doctors and nurses did a great job taking care of them.

He expressed his thanks to the Vietnamese doctors and all those on the frontlines for keeping everyone safe each day, supposing that this is also an opportunity to boost Viet Nam-UK cooperation. 

The UK and Viet Nam have continued to cooperate to ensure access to vaccines that protect the lives of Vietnamese people. As a major donor to COVAX, the UK has provided over £548 million in funding to support the equitable distribution of vaccines in 92 nations across the world, including here in Viet Nam. 

“We are proud that UK science and innovation have played a leading role in the rapid development of vaccines, including the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine”, he added. 

The UK remains committed to supporting opportunities for technology transfers, such as the partnership between The University of Bristol and VABIOTECH, which has supported domestic vaccine development here in Viet Nam, the Ambassador confirmed. 

He believed that science and cooperation will help Viet Nam and the UK to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vaccination-key to exit from period of strict entry restrictions

Louis Vigneault-Dubois, Chief of Communications, UNICEF Viet Nam

Louis Vigneault-Dubois, Chief of Communications, UNICEF Viet Nam highlighted that Viet Nam has done well to manage and contain the pandemic so far. 

“If we just look at the numbers, the country has reported a relatively small number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic with only a few deaths. That is a good achievement, the pandemic is still going on in the rest of the world. As the current wave in Viet Nam is reminding us, we can’t be complacent about COVID-19”, he said. 

Louis Vigneault-Dubois supposed that if the world, including Viet Nam, is to stem the spread of COVID-19 and urgently stop further dangerous variants from appearing, effective vaccines must reach 75 per cent of the world’s population. This is an ambitious and essential goal that will allow the country to reopen and the economy to flourish. 

UNICEF is proud to support the COVAX Facility with is a global partnership aimed at ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and Viet Nam has already received over 2.4 million free doses for its population. 

It’s essential to the success of the vaccination campaign that every person, including those hardest to reach, can benefit, he stressed. 

“Most foreigners will agree that we’ve been lucky to go through this pandemic in Viet Nam that has done such a good job at managing it and most of the population have enjoyed long periods of relatively normal life inside the country”, told the Chief of Communications, UNICEF Viet Nam.

Kids have done most of the school year in class and there were great opportunities for domestic travel, he said, adding that vaccination will be the key to exit from the period of strict entry restrictions and allow Viet Nam to become a hub for regional and global businesses. 

The Vietnamese Government has done a detailed vaccination rollout plan with priority groups. Those are meant to ensure that the most vulnerable people or those who are the most exposed are protected first. 

“As vaccines become more readily available in the country and the priority groups have been reached, it’s important that the Government also considers giving access to foreigners who contribute to the economic activity and who need to be protected to travel internationally”, he recommended. 

In the same way that Vietnamese who live abroad are included in the vaccination plan in their respective countries. 

“It’s also important to remember how vibrant the international tourism sector was before the pandemic and the potential for Viet Nam to regain its share of the global tourism once the pandemic is under control globally”, said Louis Vigneault-Dubois.