District slaps travel restriction on people without 4th Covid shot, reverses it

By An Minh June 21, 2022 | 09:10 pm PT

A man receives a Covid-19 vaccine shot in Dong Thap Province in the Mekong Delta, October 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Tai

Authorities in a Mekong Delta district announced Tuesday that people who had not received their fourth Covid-19 shot cannot leave the district but reversed it immediately.

In Soc Trang Province’s My Xuyen District, officials announcing the ban said the Covid situation remains complex and the third vaccine now has "little effect on humans" and "the amount of antibodies has dropped."

They exhorted locals go to vaccination stations in communes and towns to get their fourth shot.

Dang Van Phuong, chairman of the My Xuyen People’s Committee, said nearly 100 percent of people have got three shots, but only 15 percent got a fourth.

"People are still negligent when it comes to preventing Covid-19, so the district has issued administrative measures to ensure their health."

Province authorities had not ordered the ban, and the district made the decision on its own "based on the current situation," he said.

However, the same afternoon the My Xuyen People’s Committee rescinded the ban and instead called on the public to get the fourth shot.

With the number of infections and deaths falling around the country, vaccination is slowing down in many localities, leaving hundreds of thousands of vaccines lying unused.