Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Tran Van Son (center) speaks at the Government's press briefing, Ha Noi, December 2, 2021. Photo: VGP

Speakers:

- Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Tran Van Son

- Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong

- Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan

- Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong

- Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Doan Van Viet

- Lieutenant General To An Xo, Chief of the Office of the Ministry of Public Security

Reporter: Can you explain how the plan to resume international commercial flights could ensure the pandemic prevention and control while creating favorable conditions for overseas Vietnamese to travel back to the country?

Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong: The reopening of international air routes is a practical and objective need during the pandemic. Not only Viet Nam but other countries are also considering reopening international flights to promote socio-economic development, international trade, and travel of citizens abroad during the Tet holiday.

We have developed a plan and reported to the Prime Minister on November 8. This plan includes the list of 10 expected countries that have many connections with us in addition to Japan and the Republic of Korea.

The plan also identifies three separate phases with a specific roadmap, frequency, and respective epidemic prevention measures to ensure the travel needs of passengers and assess the demand of those markets.

We will continue to work with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Public Security, Health, Culture, Sports and Tourism… to complete the plan and submit it to the Prime Minister for decision-making.

This decision is on a conditional basis. In terms of flight reopening conditions, we must consider factors such as the epidemic prevention capabilities, rate of vaccination in ensuring community immunity. The most important prerequisite is to reach a consensus among countries, an agreement on the quarantine method of the countries with which we connect with. In addition to other administrative measures, vaccine passport will be a tool for us to resume flights.

In resuming flights to any country, consent of that country must be achieved. Airlines must comply with the regulations. In short, we will continue to discuss, negotiate with countries on the basis of the roadmap we make and decide on the basis of countries’ consensus. Recently, a new variant of Coronavirus has been identified. This is a change that makes all countries become more cautious, requiring more careful consideration and assessment. According to the plan submitted, it is expected that some flights could be resumed from December or early 2022. But due to the new variant, it is necessary to review and continue working with countries to resume flights as soon as possible. Accordingly, we will review and report to the Prime Minister for decision-making.

Reporter: Could representative of the Ministry of Public Security inform us of the initial investigation results on two cases of public concern, firstly is the decision to prosecute and detain Mr. Truong Quoc Cuong, former Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Health for the crime of lack of responsibility causing serious consequences; and secondly is the prosecution and detention of Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Vimedimex Group together with 7 other people for involving in many violations in asset auction activities.

Lieutenant General To An Xo, Chief of the Office of the Ministry of Public Security: In the fight against crime, the People's Public Security force follows the motto "Determination, decisiveness, proactiveness, regularity, and continuity", with the view that the rule of law must be respected, striving to find the right person, charge the right crime, leave no crime unaccused, not to permit any injustice or forbidden zone, all are equal before the law, settle the case as soon as evidence has been clarified.

For corruption cases of public concerns, especially those related to high-ranking officials or community influencers who violated the law, in addition to providing direct and regular guidance during the prosecution process, the Standing Committee of the Central Party Committee of Public Security must meet and carefully review the case before the investigating agency initiates the prosecution of the case and the accused. Minister of Public Security must request the investigating agency to clearly identify the responsibility of each violating individual in the case, to confirm if there is a violation. If the decision of the leader was made for the people, for the common good, having no negativities, the case will be reviewed thoroughly. If any negative behavior is detected, serious measures must be taken; and specific prosecution measures through an arrest or otherwise will be adopted so as civility will be ensured.

The Central Steering Committee on Anti-Corruption and requested the Ministry of Public Security to prioritize the investigation of certain cases. The Ministry selected violations over the last year in the health sector, followed by violations in land bidding. The orientation is to resolve the case to wake up the whole sector or the respective field. The people will benefit from this.

Regarding the case related to Mr. Truong Quoc Cuong, the Secretariat and the Central Inspection Commission has made conclusion and the prosecution agency is following up with the case.

As for the case of Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vimedimex Group, this is considered as a land bidding case. After the Ha Noi Municipal People's Committee made decision for Dong Anh district to organize bidding for a land area of ​​49,000 m2, the company conducted bidding measures in which all of its subsidiaries and individuals were instructed to bid for the deal, using fishing measures. The land price at that time was valued at VND 500 billion but was lowered to VND 300 billion so that the company could win the bid. In the meantime, the three bidding companies, which were all owned by Ms. Loan, were tasked to diminish the biddings of participating companies, and defeat them. Through four rounds, the same price was made. For this matter, the investigating agency will continue investing further to clarify the case.

Reporter: Over the past time, the epidemic has become increasingly complicated, the number of infections and deaths increased in different provinces, do the Government and the Ministry of Health foresee any potential for the fifth wave of the pandemic? Is there a strategy to coordinate support in provinces that with a high number of fatalities?

The Prime Minister has recently requested to complete the injection of the second dose by mid-December for people aged 18 and older and deploy the third injection. Will this request be met, what is the plan for the booster shots?

Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan: The current epidemic situation is still complicated, the number of cases remains high, and the number of deaths tends to increase. According to statistics, most of the deaths increased significantly in the over 50’s groups, who have diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases, and accounts for over 80% of the deaths.

The Ministry of Health has formulated solutions such as:

First, pay attention to monitor people with underlying diseases, in high-risk age, over 50’s groups, for appropriate classification of treatment.

Second, hospitals are requested conduct risk assessment and closely monitor patients, and the Ministry of Health develop specific and easy-to-follow guidelines for classification.

Third, continue to support human resources for localities with an increasing number of severe cases. The Minister of Health issued Decision 5500/QD-BYT dated November 30 on assigning upper-level hospitals to directly provide professional support in the management and treatment of COVID-19 in the provinces and centrally-run cities.

Fourth, strengthen infection control, environmental sanitation, reduce the risk of infection to medical staff, and infections at hospitals...

Fifth, reactivate remote support centers for COVID-19 treatment.

Sixth, provinces are requested to appoint capable people to directly direct the appropriate reception and treatment for patients, avoid moving patients too early. Moving patients too soon might create overload. On the other hand, moving patients too late will increase the risk of death. As such it is necessary follow guidelines of the Ministry of Health in classifying patients.

Seventh, it is necessary to build a system to monitor causes of death due to COVID-19.

Finally, on December 1st, the Minister of Health sent a telegram on continued implementation of solutions to reduce deaths due to COVID-19. The telegram specifies measures in provinces and cities, hospitals, medical facilities, facilities for reception, diagnosis, and treatment for COVID-19 patients.

Regarding the third dose vaccination, in implementing the vaccination strategy against COVID-19 as of December 1^st, an update on the COVID-19 Immunization Portal shows that over 125 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine has been provided for people over 18 years old and children aged 12-17 for the whole country.

In which, the cumulative percent of people who have received at least one dose of vaccine is more than 94% and the percentage of population who are fully vaccinated with two doses is 68% for people aged 18 years and older. Many provinces and cities have offered the second dose for 80-90% of people over 18 years old in the area. Maximum priority should be given to ensure that full primary doses required are given in the pandemic combat.

To strengthen disease prevention for people who have received in full primary doses as recommended by experts. On December 1^st, the Ministry of Health issued Official Letter No. 0225/BYT-DP on the vaccination against COVID-19 with primary and booster doses.

The injection of full primary doses is particularly important in COVID-19 prevention, as such this should be given maximum priority. To enhance immunity against COVID-19 for those who have been vaccinated with the full primary doses, as recommended by the World Health Organization's Strategic Advisory Group on Immunization and the World Health Organization, and vaccination experience in other country. The Ministry Health recommends continuing to accelerate the COVID-19 vaccination for those aged 18 years or older following the direction of the Government, the Prime Minister, and the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control and the Ministry of Health.

Among people aged 18 years or older, priority will be given to people aged 50 years or older who have received the full primary doses (1st or 2nd or 3rd shots depending on the type of vaccine) with moderate and severe immunodeficiency such as organ transplant recipients, cancer patients, HIV patients, people currently receiving immunosuppressive drugs, or have been on treatment within 6 months. Vaccine type shall be the same type as the primary dose or mRNA. The interval for the booster dose after the last dose of the primary doses is at least 28 days if sufficient supply of the respective vaccine is available.

Provide booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine for the following subjects: Persons aged 18 years or older who have received the full primary doses or booster dose, priority is given to people with underlying medical conditions, who need long-term care at medical facilities, people aged 50 years or older, those directly testing, caring for and treating COVID-19 patients, and medical staff. Type of vaccine: If the primary or supplementary injections are of the same vaccine type, a booster dose of the same vaccine or mRNA vaccine should be given; if previously vaccinated with different vaccines, a booster dose of mRNA vaccine should be given. If the primary or booster dose is Sinopharm vaccine, a booster dose of the same type or an mRNA vaccine or a viral vector vaccine (AstraZeneca vaccine) can be given. The interval for the booster dose will be within at least 6 months after the last dose of the primary or booster dose.

The dose of vaccine for booster and repeated injections should follow to the manufacturer's instructions which have been approved by the Ministry of Health.

It is expected that by the end of this year, we will have contracts with units with a total volume of about 200 million doses. Currently, under the direction of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Health has been negotiating with partner companies. In the near future, supplies of vaccines will be provided for Viet Nam, especially Pfizer and AstraZeneca, which will be sufficient for booster shots in the near future.

Reporter: Regarding the recent extension to vaccine deadline, the Ministry of Health has provided explanation. However, it is known that the extension has been approved by the Ministry of Health since September 30, but the announcement of this issue was made recently when the public commented, could the Ministry of Health explain more clearly why the Ministry of Health only gave an explanation until there was a stir in public concerns instead of proactively giving information sooner?

It is known that currently some countries have requested to destroy expired vaccines, while in Viet Nam, the shelf-life of vaccines is extended. Can I ask if there are other countries that are extending vaccines besides Viet Nam?

The Prime Minister has talked about building a stimulus package program large enough for the economy to recover. May I ask the Minister- Chairman of the Government Office, how has this stimulus package been developed? How big will this stimulus package be?

Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan: This shelf-life extension is applied globally in vaccination for all groups of subjects from 12 years of age and older. This extension has also been rigorously assessed and guaranteed to be safe and effective. From the time of FDA and EMA approval mentioned above, previously produced batches of Pfizer vaccines with a shelf-life of 6 months are automatically increased to 9 months. Countries around the world still keep the label on the vaccine according to the manufacturer's expiration date and only have their own announcement about extending the shelf-life of the vaccine to 9 months.

In the coming time, the manufacturer will continue to research and if the quality and stability is guaranteed, the manufacturer will submit a dossier to the competent authorities to increase the shelf-life of the vaccine up to 12, 18 or 24 months.

Dr. Kidong Park, the World Health Organization Representative in Viet Nam, said that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the first COVID-19 vaccine approved by the WHO on December 31, 2020, and put on the Emergency Use List of the WHO. On January 8th, 2021, the WHO made recommendations on the use and storage requirements for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine based on scientific data available at the time. The manufacturer has continued research and development after the initial approval phase. National vaccine regulators have updated their approval conditions after reviewing new evidence and scientific data provided by manufacturers, including expanding the vaccination age group to 12 years and older, and extending shelf-life from 6 months to 9 months.

In August 2021, the WHO approved these updated conditions, including extending the shelf-life to 9 months, for all Pfizer vaccines manufactured before August 2021.

During the transportation of vaccines from the manufacturer to Viet Nam, vaccines are always stored at -90°C to -60°C by specialized equipment of the manufacturer. All batches of vaccines, before being used in Viet Nam, are evaluated by the National Institute for Quality Control of Vaccines and Biologicals, and issued with a license. Therefore, extending the shelf-life of the vaccine by 3 months does not affect the quality of the vaccine at all.

The Minister of Health also emphasized that the extension of the Pfizer vaccine complies with international regulations, Viet Nam does not renew by itself. All vaccines returned to Viet Nam are assessed as required by the WHO and are effective when being used for patients.

Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong: The program of economic recovery and development is the task assigned by the Government to the Ministry of Planning and Investment to implement and preside over. As planned, this program will be submitted to the National Assembly at the supplementary session later this year.

In terms of primary content, the recovery program consists of five main groups of solutions including: health care, social security, support for businesses/cooperatives/households, stimulus for public investment, and administrative reform.

As the drafting agency, the Ministry of Planning and Investment believes that these five groups of solutions are strong enough and cover all areas that need support, and necessary for the structure of the economy, to foster rapid recovery and development after the pandemic has been put under control.

Regarding "sufficient length" and "adequate scale", in terms of time, the Ministry of Planning and Investment has reported to the Government that the application period of the Program is about 2 years, focusing mainly on 2022 and 2023. Depending on the situation, the developments of the pandemic and some solutions will have to be extended. For example, large-scale public investment projects, typically the North-South Expressway in the 2021-2025 period. This is a project with a large total investment and for a long time, so it is difficult to implement within 2 years. As such, implementation timeline will be linked with development goals and will mainly focus on 2022 and 2023.

In the three contents mentioned by the Prime Minister about the Recovery Program are closely related, "solutions must be strong enough, long enough, and large enough". If solutions are strong, they will be expensive, if the budget is limited, the timeline will have to be extended, there is a close correlation among these factors.

Unfortunately, I cannot answer the press today about the size of the Monetary and Fiscal Policy Program because it has not been approved by the competent authorities. However, it can be affirmed that the tools to implement the solutions of the recovery program mainly focus on fiscal and monetary tools, combined with other tools such as mobilizing non-budget funds, corporate funds, private sector engagement...

The Ministry of Planning and Investment will promptly notify the press when the Recovery Program is approved by the National Assembly.

Reporter: At the National Cultural Conference on implementing the Resolution of the 13th Party Congress that took place recently, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong gave a speech, in which  he requested to build, preserve, and promote the unique values ​​of Viet Nam's advanced culture and national identity. In order to implement the General Secretary's conclusion at the Conference, could the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism explain what has been implemented by the Ministry and how it has developed a specific plan to bring the General Secretary's conclusions into life?

Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Doan Van Viet: Implementing the conclusion of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at this important conference, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is implementing a number of works as follows:

(i) focus on raising awareness about the information on cultural development, which affirms the contribution of culture in the socio-economic process and the process of international integration, so that culture could be at the same level as economic and political factors.

(ii) the Ministry continues to focus on advising and proposing to improve institutions and policies, etc. For example, amending and supplementing the Law on Cultural Heritage, especially exploiting, and encouraging the creativity of Vietnamese artists, organizations, and businesses…

(iii) foster the holistic development of Vietnamese people, it is necessary to focus on building a cultural environment, in which attention must be made to coordinating with ministries, branches, agencies and localities to build a cultural value system of Vietnamese people in the new period.

(iv) focus on building a healthy cultural environment to create a driving force for economic and social development and international integration. For this, the Ministry must focus on creating conditions for people to access cultural services and cultural products, thereby developing relevant sets of criteria on the national cultural index, towards the Sustainable Development.

(v) improve the quality and operational efficiency of culture. This is a great demand of the people.

(vi) protect and promote cultural heritages of the nation. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop programs on art and culture as well as on cultural heritages of different ethnic groups. At the same time, upgrade and effectively exploit the culture and cultural heritage of the community of 54 ethnic groups in Viet Nam.

(vii) improve the market mechanism in the cultural field, in which priority must be given to the development of a number of cultural industries. It is crucial and necessary to focus on developing strategies for cultural industries, especially attention to advantages of Viet Nam's cultural industry.

(viii) actively integrate, strengthen cultural international cooperation and exchange, it is necessary to develop projects to invest and promote our art works, formulate national foreign cultural strategies by 2030, with a vision to 2045 as well as promoting the establishment of a number of cultural centers in a number of countries such as Korea, France, Russia, China... in the near future.

(iv) create a breakthrough in human resources in the field of culture and art, whereby focusing on the strength of the domestic and foreign markets for training artists and actors.

(x) pay attention to promoting science and technology, digital transformation in the field of culture.

(xi) effectively concentrate investment resources, develop the cultural field. VGP