Province further realizes medical duties, living safely with Covid-19 pandemic

In the "new normal" state, living with Covid-19 pandemic, Binh Duong has continued adjusting medical activities to control the pandemic. Initially, the province will prioritize vaccination for workers and guide people how to take samples for Covid-18 testing at home, aiming to serve the local goal of recovering production.

Covid-19 vaccines given priority to laborers

From October 5 to 7, healthcare units in the province have organized the 46th round of Covid-19 vaccination for people. Subjects are people who have not received the first shot and those getting the first shot. In this round, the health sector has deployed Vero Cell vaccines, sponsored by the Chinese Government and allocated by the national vaccination program. The number of Covid-19 vaccines allocated is 324,600 doses. Previously, provincial Party Standing Committee also directed the health sector to organize the 2nd shot Covid-19 vaccination with priority for workers, especially those at enterprises under the “3 on-site" production model. Therefore, provincial Industrial Parks’ Management Board and Department of Industry-Trade have jointly organized quick, orderly and safe injections under the guidance of the health sector. Provincial Department of Information and Communications has coordinated with localities and units to organize forces to give training and transfer on injection data entry at injection sites, ensuring sufficient data input forces when officials, civil servants return to their units in order to perform professional duties.

A man in Thu Dau Mot city’s Phu Hoa ward gets vaccinated against Covid-19

Vo Van Minh, Vice-Secretary of provincial Party Committee, Chairman of provincial People's Committee said that in order to soon recover production, Binh Duong is giving priority to injecting the 2nd shot of Covid-19 vaccine for laborers. This is an important condition for factories and enterprises to quickly recover production in the coming time. Up to now, most people aged over 18 in the province have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine. The province will administer the second shot of Covid-19 vaccine for employees as soon as receiving Covid-19 vaccines allocated from the Ministry of Health.

In terms of the local need for Covid-19 vaccines, Dr. Nguyen Hong Chuong, Director of provincial Department of Health said that currently, the total number of doses of Covid-19 vaccine needed for the province to give full 2 doses for people in the province is 4.7 million doses (including for subjects aged between 12 and 18). So far, the province has administered 2,161,318 out of 3,205,850 doses of Covid-19 vaccine allocated by the Ministry of Health (comprising of 2,011,064 doses for the first shot and 150,254 doses for the second shot). The number of Covid-19 vaccine doses needed in the near future is about 1.5 million doses. With the number of 176 fixed vaccination teams and about 100 mobile teams, the health sector can inject between 100,000 - 150,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine each day. Thus, if the vaccine is provided continuously and fully, the province will complete 2 doses of vaccine for all people in about 20-30 days with a total of 2.6 million doses.

To achieve the goal of 2.6 doses of Covid-19 vaccine, the health sector is urgently setting up a specific plan to receive, store, transport and distribute vaccines from the Government; train volunteer teams on screening and vaccination techniques; strengthen and consolidate vaccination data entry forces to timely input vaccination data into the national vaccination system; closely inspect the implementation of vaccination to correct deficiencies. The local authorities will coordinate and direct vaccination support forces to hand out invitations, call people for injection, arrange injection sites, ensuring security and order.

Guidance about how to take samples for rapid Covid-19 testing at home

In order to meet the "new normal" status, living safely with Covid-19 pandemic, medical units in the province are guiding people how to take samples for testing at home. Di An city, Thuan An city, Tan Uyen town and Phu Giao district have guided people to perform this task. Medical workers have instructed people to take nasopharyngeal samples for rapid Covid-19 testing. This is a common sampling technique being used for many rapid test kits on the market. With this technique, medical workers recommend that people need to follow exact sampling steps because this is the most important step to ensure the accuracy of test results. People need to take samples in the right area of ​​the oropharynx while ensuring that enough solution is absorbed otherwise it will not be able to absorb the fluid.

Being guided how to take samples for rapid Covid-19 testing from medical staff,  Nguyen Thi Tuyet, a resient in Thuan An city’s Thuan Giao ward shared: “This is the first time I have taken samples for testing by myself. At first I thought it was difficult, but when being guided by medical staff, I found it simple to do. I just need to follow the guided techniques and follow the steps to be assured of accurate results. Now, I am confident to take rapid testing samples for me and my family members.”

According to Dr. Van Quang Tan, Director of provincial General Hospital, when taking samples of nasopharyngeal fluid for testing, people need to put about three-fourths of the length of the sample rod deep inside their nose. When performing the insertion of the sample probe, they get success if feeling being collapsed. He also recommends that each rapid test kit will have different instructions for use depending on manufacturers. People should carefully read the instructions for use before taking samples. Rapid test results can give false positive or false negative results. If the test is negative, people should not be subjective. On the contrary, if the test is positive, people must calmly report it immediately to the nearest medical facility. After completing the sampling, testing and reading the results, people need to put all used items in the bag and seal it, avoid throwing these test tools directly into the household wastebasket; sanitize, disinfect hands and relevant surfaces in accordance with regulations.

With the number of 176 fixed vaccination teams and about 100 mobile vaccination teams, the health sector can inject between 100,000 and 150,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine each day. Thus, if the vaccine is provided continuously and fully, the province will complete 2 doses of vaccine for all people with a total of 2.6 million doses in about 20-30 days.

Reported by Hoang Linh-Translated by Kim Tin