Leaders of the southern city said Ho Chi Minh is taking advantage of the ongoing social distancing period to vaccinate its residents against Covid-19 with nearly a million shots. It has expanded the number of vaccination stations, and expects 70 percent of its nine million population would have received at least one vaccine shot within this month.

But to achieve that goal, the city now requests the government and the Ministry of Health to supply more Covid-19 vaccine doses, it said at a meeting with the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

The committee requests that HCMC have detailed vaccination plans so the health ministry could distribute the appropriate amount of vaccines. The city should also notify people that vaccinated individuals could still get sick, albeit with much milder symptoms.

Covid-19 vaccination is not required by law, but is the right and responsibility of each individual and the community, the committee added.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son said the social distancing period has been effective in reducing the number of infections and deaths, as well as speeding up vaccination.

"We can handle the situation if the number of severe cases increases," he said.

More than three months into the new wave, Vietnam has recorded 161,431 community infections in 62 of its 63 cities and provinces, with HCMC the epicenter with 100,557 cases.

The country has administered more than 6.95 million Covid-19 vaccine shots, fully vaccinating 712,864 people with two shots.

HCMC was distributed three million doses, followed by Hanoi with 2.3 million. Other localities have between tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of doses.