Vietnam Gov’t Proposes Crowdfunding for COVID-19 Vaccines, Drugs

The Vietnamese government has proposed crowdfunding for COVID-19 vaccines and drugs, in a bid to contain the pandemic more effectively with the appearance of the new Omicron variant in the country, local media reported. The government made the proposal in its recent report to the National Assembly, the country’s highest legislative body, as the average number of coronavirus infections has reached 15,000 per day in the country. Private health clinics should be allowed to collect treatment fees from coronavirus patients with treatments there. Those who have been allocated to join the anti-pandemic fight by local authorities should be able to collect fees in line with health insurance policies, the government added. Currently, an expert from the Ministry of Health has told the local Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that Vietnam may allow COVID-19 vaccine services from the fourth dose onwards, in which people can select domestic vaccines with cheaper costs or foreign ones with higher costs depending on their demands.  (Tuoi Tre)