(VOVWORLD) - Ho Chi Minh City has started a 2-week social distancing under the Prime Minister’s Directive 16 since Friday. Unlike the previous days, essential goods are readily available in supermarkets and shopping centers and people no longer jostle for purchases.

(VOVWORLD) - Vaccine is considered the most effective measure to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and the Party and State are determined to implement the Vaccine Strategy, said Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

(VOVWORLD) -Vietnam received on Saturday 2 million doses of Moderna vaccine donated to the COVAX Facility by the United States Government, said the World Health Organization Vietnam on its website.

(VOVWORLD) - From 6 p.m. on Friday to 6 a.m. on Saturday, Vietnam confirmed an additional 598 cases of COVID-9 in 14 provinces and cities. Ho Chi Minh had the most with 520 cases, the Ministry of Health said.

(VOVWORLD) - Vietnam confirmed an additional 591 cases of COVID-19 from 12 noon to 6 pm on Friday, raising the caseload of the day to 1,625, said the Ministry of Health. They include 9 imported cases and 1,616 domestic cases, of which Ho Chi Minh City had 1,229 cases.

(VOVWORLD) - 580,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on Friday morning as caseloads of the fourth wave of pandemic are rising.

(VOVWORLD) - Having escaped the worst when the coronavirus pandemic erupted last year, Southeast Asia is now suffering record rises in deaths and cases, while vaccination shortfalls and highly contagious variants have derailed containment efforts, said Reuters on Friday.

(VOVWORLD) - Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, who is Head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, paid a working visit to Binh Chanh district in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday before social distancing was imposed.

(VOVWORLD) -As many as 8.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses are scheduled to arrive in Vietnam this July, according to Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long.

(VOVWORLD) -The Olympics will take place without spectators in host city Tokyo, organisers said on Thursday, as a resurgent coronavirus forced Japan to declare a state of emergency in the capital that will run throughout the Games.