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High-risk groups including older people, people with health conditions, and pregnant women are high on the southern largest city’s list of priorities.
Although she has been fully vaccinated with two doses of vaccines, 62-year-old Ngo Thi Xuan in District 12 is still worried about the risk of getting Covid-19 because she has had high blood pressure and diabetes for four years, so she has paid close attention to medical workers’ recommendations, and she has not gone to crowded places.
Similarly, 67-year-old Nguyen Van Sam in Tan Phu District who is undergoing cancer treatment always carries an alcohol bottle with him and does not stand closer than two meters to anyone. He explained because he is a patient, he must be more careful.
According to statistics, elderly people with chronic diseases are at high risk of being infected with Covid-19. if they are infected with Covid-19, they will stay in hospitals longer and be at high risk of death.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all age groups are at risk of contracting Covid-19; however, middle-aged and older people are at high risk of developing severe Covid-19 disease; therefore, supporting and protecting older people is everyone’s business.
In the US, about 80 percent of Covid-19 deaths are in people aged 65 years and older, most of them having underlying medical conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic kidney disease, cirrhosis, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity. Another study in Italy also showed that 99 percent of deaths due to Covid-19 were people with chronic diseases.
According to Associate Professor Tang Chi Thuong, Director of the Department of Health in Ho Chi Minh City, the health sector has analyzed dead cases for the past time, it concluded that dead people are people over 50 with underlying diseases including diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease, liver disease and cancer.
Besides the elderly, people with underlying diseases, people with opportunistic diseases are also at high risk of contracting Covid-19. After receiving two doses of vaccines three months ago, a 46-year-old man infected with HIV in Go Vap District has just come to the Tuberculosis - HIV/AIDS clinic of the Go Vap District Health Center to receive his Covid-19 booster dose. ·He revealed that he has been on ARVs for ten years now, so his health is somewhat declining. He felt better after receiving the booster dose.
Approximately, 250 other HIV/AIDS patients have just received their Covid-19 booster doses at the Go Vap District Health Center.
Along with HIV-infected patients, the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has just launched a campaign to protect people in risk groups from the Covid-19 epidemic with the aim of preventing people in this group from being infected with Covid-19 by early detecting for timely specific treatment with antiretroviral drugs and health monitoring to minimize deaths.
Many activities such as managing the health of people in risk groups, deploying screening tests to detect people infected with Covid-19, and promoting vaccination against Covid-19 for at-risk groups have been implemented.
Specifically, the city conducted a survey and made a list of households with people in the risk group to perform rapid antigen testing. If their test results are negative after two times, they will be consulted and monitored remotely through the network of doctors; but they will get immediate treatment if they are positive for SARS-CoV-2.
For vaccination activities, Ho Chi Minh City ensures not to miss people in risk groups. Those in the risk group but have not been vaccinated or given insufficient doses will be persuaded to go to the nearest medical facility to receive the vaccine doses.
