Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has urged relevant ministries, agencies, and localities to remain alert about Covid-19 outbreaks during the upcoming New Year holidays.

He made the direction while chairing a teleconference on December 23 to review Covid-19 prevention and control efforts and set tasks to control the pandemic and other infectious diseases during the New Year holidays, to “not leave anyone behind”.

The National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control has predicted that the pandemic will become more complicated with new variants. The New Year season involves a high volume of travel that can create the conditions needed for illnesses to spread, especially among children and the elderly with underlying conditions.

As of December 19, Vietnam had recorded more than 11.5 million Covid-19 cases. While more than 10.6 million patients recovered, more than 43,100 died.

The country has so far administered more than 265 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine.