By Joe Fotalatte
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed Directive 05/CD-TTg, dated January 8th, on strengthening the prevention and control of epidemics during the Lunar New Year and the 2023 festival season.
According to the telegram sent to the ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, government-affiliated organizations, and agencies must continue implementation of epidemic prevention and control solutions across all levels and sectors, with particular attention to the vaccination campaign for COVID-19 prevention.
The SARS-CoV-2 epidemic is still unpredictable and unstable, and new sub-variants of the XBB variant have recently emerged. Because of its capacity to evade immunity, the XBB variant spreads more quickly than other Omicron variants and has now been detected in 70 countries.
The immunity conferred by vaccination will also wane over time, despite high vaccination rates. The risk of an increase in COVID-19 cases is due to the timing of the season change, the transition from winter to spring, as well as the relaxing of epidemic prevention and control policies in some countries. During the Lunar New Year and Spring of 2023, there will be trade, tourism, festivals, and other large indoor gatherings increasing the risk of infections.
Many health experts recommend getting updated booster shots within 4-6 months of the previous jab.