Lieutenant Colonel, Doctor Nguyen Huy Hoang, Vietnam-Russia Hyperbaric Oxygen Center, Ministry of National Defense said that Covid-19 is still very dangerous, because of its ability to spread quickly, and can cause death, especially for the elderly and people with underlying diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to include the Covid-19 vaccine in the expanded immunization program.
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| Dr. Nguyen Huy Hoang said that including the Covid-19 vaccine in the expanded immunization program is necessary. (Photo: NVCC) |
On the afternoon of June 3, the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control agreed to change Covid-19 from group A infectious disease to group B infectious disease. How do doctors assess the importance of this decision?
In my opinion, this is a very important decision. Firstly, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee declares an epidemic upon the request of the Director of the Department of Health; the Minister of Health declares an epidemic upon the request of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee when two or more provinces or centrally-run cities declare an epidemic. Previously, the authority to declare an epidemic belonged to the Prime Minister.
Second, when it moves to group B infectious diseases, people with Covid-19 no longer need to be quarantined or treated, and can move freely.
In fact, when the number of Covid-19 patients tended to increase in early April 2023, many people wondered whether F0 patients had to be quarantined or not? The regulation at that time required quarantine, but in reality, many people still went to work, school... because they had no symptoms, did not know they had Covid-19 or had mild symptoms, thinking it was just a common cold.
Therefore, this decision will help crowded facilities such as factories, plants, schools, etc. not fall into a state of confusion when someone has Covid-19.
Third, the cost of ensuring Covid-19 prevention and treatment is no longer covered by the state budget. Vaccination, if not included in the expanded immunization program, will incur a fee. Public and non-public health facilities can proactively develop service packages for Covid-19 vaccination and treatment, based on people's needs and ability to pay.
Previously, on May 5, a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that Covid-19 is no longer a global health emergency. However, that does not mean that Covid-19 is no longer a global health threat. So, in your opinion, is it necessary for Vietnam to develop flexible epidemic prevention scenarios?
WHO has declared that Covid-19 is no longer a global emergency. However, WHO still recommends that countries should be cautious and move from emergency prevention and control to a sustainable, long-term epidemic control strategy, with some highlights as follows:
Do not be subjective, negligent, or lose vigilance. Continue to maintain national capacity, achievements, and prepare for possible future events to avoid possible overload of the health system.
At the same time, focus on monitoring key areas to detect new variants early; improve treatment capacity to reduce the number of deaths, closely monitor changes in the level of transmission and severity of cases.
Continue to review and update the national response plan, be ready and flexible, and if necessary re-establish public health and social measures, based on the epidemic situation and risk assessment.
Continue research, transfer of vaccine technology and study of post-Covid-19 related conditions, need to closely monitor in the context of increasing infections, be ready to improve intensive care capacity to ensure that when the number of cases increases, the health system is not overloaded.
Recently, Vietnam has implemented the "Strategy for adaptation, safety, flexibility, and effective control of the Covid-19 epidemic" according to Resolution 128/NQ-CP since October 2021.
Thus, in the coming time, the authorities need to update and develop appropriate response strategies, without surprises, to control the epidemic in all situations but at a low cost, and to protect the health and interests of the people.
In fact, Covid-19 is still a new disease and Covid-19 has not ended yet, people should not be subjective. What is the need to include Covid-19 vaccine in the expanded immunization program from your perspective?
Among the 7 recommendations that the WHO Representative in Vietnam made at the meeting on May 6, 2023 chaired by the Ministry of Health, there was a very important content: Including Covid-19 vaccination in national immunization (lifelong vaccination), increasing the injection of booster shots, especially for high-risk groups.
Covid-19 is still very dangerous, because of its ability to spread quickly and can cause death, especially for the elderly and those with underlying diseases. Moreover, the SARS-CoV-2 virus is constantly changing with new variants, sub-variants of the virus that have the potential to spread quickly, evade immunity, and reduce treatment effectiveness.
When Covid-19 is classified as a group B infectious disease, the role of primary health care and preventive medicine is very important. However, in reality, the role of preventive medicine is still limited and has not received full and comprehensive attention.
Meanwhile, people are still subjective and do not wear masks in high-risk places such as hospitals, shopping malls, train stations, airports, etc., even though it is a very effective measure to prevent Covid-19 as well as other respiratory infectious diseases.
Therefore, in my opinion, it is necessary to include the Covid-19 vaccine in the expanded immunization program. However, how to include it and how to apply it to risk groups are issues that need to be carefully discussed.
What about high-risk groups, in your opinion?
For high-risk groups, such as pregnant women, the elderly, and people with underlying diseases, even if they do not have Covid-19, but have seasonal flu or some other respiratory diseases, they can still develop seriously, even die, or leave many sequelae.
Not only with high-risk groups, we also need to pay attention to those who are in close contact with them. These could be colleagues who work in the same room, family members, or housekeepers, caregivers... If these people unfortunately get Covid-19, it is very likely that they will cause people in high-risk groups to get infected as well.
Therefore, adequate vaccination against Covid-19 as well as periodic booster vaccination are important issues in minimizing the risk of hospitalization and death due to Covid-19 in this high-risk group.
In my opinion, free vaccination should be applied to these high-risk groups, even annual booster shots like seasonal flu.
In addition to Covid-19 and seasonal flu, there are now vaccines against pneumococcus, hemophilus influenza or meningococcus... which are infectious diseases no less dangerous than Covid-19.
What advice do doctors have for people to be vigilant against the epidemic at this time?
Disease prevention is always an issue that every individual needs to pay attention to during the changing seasons.
In addition to common diseases such as seasonal flu, dengue fever, chickenpox, hand, foot and mouth disease, we now have Covid-19. Who knows, there may be more new infectious diseases in the future. Therefore, the most important thing is that we need to improve our body's resistance by limiting alcohol, stimulants, not eating a lot of processed foods, increasing vegetables and fruits in our diet, increasing light and regular exercise, controlling stress well, ensuring enough sleep, etc.
In addition, we need to proactively prevent by wearing masks, disinfecting, and getting vaccinated according to the instructions of the Ministry of Health. In addition, people also need to be selective in receiving information, should follow official sources of information, avoid listening to false, unfounded rumors on social networks.
Thank you doctor!
| When the Covid-19 epidemic broke out, Lieutenant Colonel, Doctor Nguyen Huy Hoang (Vietnam-Russia High Pressure Oxygen Center, Ministry of National Defense) was a member of the group "Military doctors provide online support for F0 treatment at home" and the group "Community connecting medical staff to prevent Covid-19". |
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