9 new coronavirus cases confirmed in Vietnam

Vietnam recorded nine new community cases of Covid-19 Monday evening, with three in the city of Hai Phong and six in Hai Duong Province, according to the Ministry of Health.

All six cases in Hai Duong had direct contact with confirmed patients and were already in quarantine. Contact tracers are working on more information about the three cases in Hai Phong. These are the harbor city’s first Covid-19 cases in 2021. 

Meanwhile, Hanoi has not reported any new community cases for seven consecutive days. The capital estimates a need for 15 million vaccine doses – two for each civilian aged 18 and above, said deputy of Hanoi’s Department of Health Hoang Duc Hanh in a meeting Monday afternoon. 

Vietnam’s vaccination program is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2021 with frontline workers and high-risk citizens, as soon as orders of the UK’s Astra-Zeneca vaccine arrive, according toVN Express.

Since the latest wave started Jan. 27, the country has registered a total of 800 new cases in 13 cities and provinces.

Worldwide, over 111.5 million people have been infected with the virus so far, including almost 2.5 million deaths.