National Assembly Delegate: Proposal to declare the end of the epidemic and stop researching COVID-19 vaccine

Medical staff guide people to get vaccinated.

Discussing at the National Assembly this morning, May 29, the report of the Supervisory Delegation related to the mobilization, management and use of resources for COVID-19 prevention and control; implementation of policies and laws on grassroots health care and preventive medicine, delegate Nguyen Lan Hieu, National Assembly Delegation of Binh Dinh province, proposed that Vietnam can declare the end of the COVID-19 epidemic because all necessary factors have been met.

Specifically, delegate Nguyen Lan Hieu said that currently the rate of severe illness caused by COVID-19 is almost non-existent, and deaths are mainly due to severe underlying diseases. This shows that COVID-19 is still spreading in the community but no longer poses a high risk of death. In addition, Vietnam has achieved a high rate of COVID-19 vaccination coverage nationwide.

On the other hand, the COVID-19 situation in the world has stabilized when in early May 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic no longer a global health emergency. These are the conditions for Vietnam to move COVID-19 from group A infectious diseases (especially dangerous diseases that can transmit very quickly, spread widely, and have a high mortality rate) to group B (dangerous infectious diseases that can transmit quickly and can cause death).

Delegate Nguyen Lan Hieu said that when COVID-19 is no longer a group A infectious disease, it should be considered a specialized disease and treated like other specialized diseases. Payment should also be treated like other diseases, meaning that it should be covered by health insurance or paid for by the people themselves.

Delegate Nguyen Lan Hieu, National Assembly Delegation of Binh Dinh, spoke at the National Assembly.

Delegate Nguyen Lan Hieu added that earlier, in mid-2022, also at the National Assembly forum, he had proposed considering declaring the end of the COVID-19 epidemic. Recently, the Prime Minister also directed the Ministry of Health to prepare documents to transfer COVID-19 from group A infectious disease to group B and declare the end of the epidemic in Vietnam.

Also related to the work of preventing and fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in the new context, delegate Nguyen Anh Tri, National Assembly Delegation of Hanoi City proposed to stop researching and producing COVID-19 vaccine in Vietnam. According to the delegate, it is now too late to research and produce COVID-19 vaccine, but it is necessary to find and buy good vaccines, at reasonable prices and enough to vaccinate the people.

Reviewing the process of preventing and fighting COVID-19 over the past three years, delegate Nguyen Anh Tri emphasized that Vietnam is one of the countries that has most successfully controlled the COVID-19 pandemic; in which the very good, very fast, and very successful vaccine diplomacy strategy has contributed significantly to the whole country having enough, timely, and immediate vaccines to vaccinate the people.

Agreeing with the assessment of the National Assembly's Supervisory Delegation "respecting the solidarity of the people and individuals and groups that have contributed to the fight against COVID," delegate Nguyen Anh Tri said that this is a great and meaningful message about the spirit of national solidarity and love. Therefore, the delegate requested that the authorities clear and settle the epidemic prevention and control budget for the forces, localities, and units; and do a better job of praising and rewarding the units and individuals participating in the fight against the epidemic.

Regarding serious violations in COVID-19 prevention and control activities, according to this delegate, the authorities need to handle them very strictly, but also need to consider cases that are not for personal gain but for timely epidemic prevention to ensure the interests of the community in accordance with the direction of the Party and the National Assembly./.

According to VNA

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