What you need to know today in Vietnam:

Politics

-- Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong on Thursday called on all Vietnamese people at home and in other countries to beef up COVID-19 prevention and control amid the complicated developments of the pandemic, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

COVID-19 Updates

-- Vietnam reported 4,987 new coronavirus cases on Friday morning, taking the caseload to 133,405 with 31,780 recoveries and 1,022 deaths.

-- Vietnam's State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Thursday urged the Ministry of Health to speed up the emergency use authorization for Nanocovax, a domestically-made COVID-19 vaccine in phase-3 clinical trials, considering the escalation of infections in the country at the moment.

-- Vietnamese Vingroup is building a plant to produce an mRNA vaccine in Hanoi, with technology transfer from a U.S. company. The group plans to produce 100-200 million doses a year. The vaccine is expected to be available in Vietnam in 2022.  

-- Authorities in Hoi An, located in central Vietnam, said on Friday that extensive restrictions will be imposed on the city from Saturday after many COVID-19 cases had been found in the community.

Society

-- The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade proposed on Thursday that health authorities vaccinate 62,000 delivery workers against COVID-19 to ensure the flow of goods during the current social distancing period.

Business

-- The American Apparel & Footwear Association urged in a letter to the Biden administration this week that the U.S. "immediately ramp up distribution of excess U.S. vaccines to Vietnam and other key partner countries."

World News

-- "Japan's government on Friday proposed states of emergency through Aug. 31 in three prefectures near Olympic host Tokyo and the western prefecture of Osaka, as COVID-19 cases spike to records, overshadowing the Summer Games," Reuters reported. 

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