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“I had the second shot of Moderna vaccine in mid-April and I am happy to see that it is getting easier for people to get it,” said Ly Huynh, a Vietnamese living in Washington D.C.

In the capital state, pharmacies have been offering free vaccines since early April. Residents do not need to register in advance as they needed to earlier; they can walk into any medical store to ask for a form and book vaccination appointments. Vaccinated people will have to wait for 15 minutes at the premises after getting their shot to check for any adverse reactions.

Huynh said business activities like shops and restaurants in Washington D.C. have been restored to about 70 percent of the normal. Most of the people around her are calm because of vaccine availability, which may help to reduce the mortality rate.

Ly Huynh gets the second shot of Covid-19 vaccine on April 16 in Washington D.C. Photo courtesy of Ly Huynh.

In Santa Ana, California, Vu Thi Hoang Anh said she felt safer and more secure after having two shots of the Pfizer vaccine in February. She can use the Othena app to check her health and use it as a vaccine passport. Her husband and children have also had their shots.

Hoang Anh also sees that it is more convenient for adults to get vaccinated compared to several months ago. Now, everyone can get their vaccine shots regardless of their immigration status. Hoang Anh said she hoped that things would return to normal soon as local authorities are actively promoting the Covid-19 vaccination program. They are calling people in their homes to encourage them to get vaccinated and even offering cash payments for doing so.

Public activities in Santa Ana are fully allowed now and residents are closely following the rules of wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. However, there are some restrictions for tourists, she said.

In Austin, Texas, Vi Dang said that after getting two shots of the Pfizer vaccine, she can choose to go to the office when she wants instead of working at home. Her friends working at hospitals have told her that the vaccines have helped to reduce infections, leading to the disbanding of special teams. She could also see that a majority of Austin residents are resuming public activities.

In New York, Yen Nguyen is among many Vietnamese who have been fully vaccinated. The local government is offering different incentives for residents to join the vaccination program. The latest offer is of free tickets at two stadiums, home of the Yankees and the Mets, on game days.

Yen has heard that the city’s social activities will resume on May 19 with residents required to observe preventive measures.

Fear and reluctance

About 46 percent of Americans have received at least one vaccine dose, and nearly 35 percent are fully vaccinated, according to data published Monday by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

So far, about 153 million people, about 58 percent of the adult population in the U.S. have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, according to the latest data from the CDC, CNN reported.

Hoang Anh said that Vietnamese community in Orange county has shown great interest in getting vaccinated. With over 100 million people getting their shots, it seems that the population is confident about the vaccines’ effectiveness.

However, Anh said there were people, mainly from South America, who were reluctant to get themselves vaccinated because they were fearful of side effects.

“Therefore, I am worried that it will take more time for the U.S. to achieve herd immunity.”

Early on, the target herd immunity threshold in the U.S. was 60 to 70 percent of the population. But given the predominant variant now circulating in the U.S., experts are calculating the herd immunity threshold to be at least 80 percent, according to the New York Times .

In San Diego city, California, Peter Nguyen said he has seen many people not wanting to get their shots even though they do not have to wait in line. Many Americans are skeptical about the vaccines while Asians seem to have faith in them.

Though Peter is permitted to go out without a mask after being fully vaccinated with the Modena vaccine he still wears one to protect himself and others.

He noted that when President Joe Biden set a new goal of administering at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose to 70 percent of the U.S. adult population and having 160 million U.S. adults fully vaccinated by July 4, he thought things will not return to normal soon.

“We may have to wait till next year to see the herd immunity.”

Peter Nguyen after being fully vaccinated in March in California. Photo courtesy of Peter Nguyen.

Yen Nguyen in New York said several of her acquaintances are either worried about side effects or too busy to get themselves vaccinated. She has read that New York and other states have seen a decline in vaccines administered since mid-April.

Now she is concerned that it will be hard for New York to reach herd immunity in the short term if the city opens up next week as scheduled. She is also anxious about the city’s plans to welcome around 50 percent of the tourists it did in 2019, which is around 66 million people, in an effort to boost the local economy.

“We have no idea if there will be a new wave or not. Therefore, I have to continue wearing a mask and keep my distance from others.”

Vi Dang also said many Americans in Texas were refusing to get vaccinated. She hopes they will change their minds for specific benefits like being able to visit other countries that require a vaccine passport.

Ly Huynh knows of some people who denied the vaccines had contracted the virus and recovered without going to hospitals. They do not believe in the effectiveness of vaccines and choose to stay at home to avoid getting infected again. She considers such people “selfish.”

“I am worried that if the number of people saying no to vaccines increases, the coronavirus may have more variants, creating new waves that are more dangerous. This will waste the efforts of countries attempting to produce vaccines,” she said.

Hoàng Xuân Vinh of Việt Nam (right) poses with South Korean four-time Olympic shooting champion Jin Jong-oh in Hà Nội’s National Sport Training Centre in 2018. Vinh is expected to have his second Olympics this July. Photo danviet.vn

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam have received an invitation to compete in shooting at the coming Tokyo Olympics.

In a letter, the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) offered a slot to one Vietnamese athlete in the men’s 10m air pistol category and asked the local federation to send an outstanding or well-known marksman to the Games this July.

At the last Games in Rio five years ago, Vietnamese shooter Hoàng Xuân Vinh secured the country’s first Olympic gold in the 10m air pistol.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced many tournaments to be cancelled or delayed, Vinh and his teammates failed to secure a berth in Tokyo.

The Việt Nam Shooting Federation (VSF) will likely choose between Vinh and his teammate Trần Quốc Cường for selection.

The 47-year-old Vinh became the first Vietnamese shooter to rank No 1 in the world after his Olympic victory, but has performed poorly since and now sits at No 38.

Meanwhile Cường, also 47, had his best result at the Beijing ISSF World Cup in 2010. The former SEA Games champion, who also competed in Rio in 2016, is now No 19.

“We will discuss and confirm with the ISSF and the International Olympic Committee before June 18. Vinh might be picked. We will not miss this chance,” said Nguyễn Thị Nhung, VSF general secretary.

On his side, Vinh was happy about the invitation.

“I knew about it for several days. I am excited about it. (If selected) I would do my best to make something at the Tokyo,” Vinh was quoted as saying by danviet.vn .

“My teammates and I are training in Hà Nội. Due to COVID-19, our training schedule is affected a lot but we have to adjust and overcome difficulties. I will have five weeks to prepare for Tokyo,” said Vinh.

Shooting is the 14th slot for Việt Nam at the July 23-August 8 event, following those in taekwondo, swimming, gymnastics, boxing, badminton, rowing, archery and weightlifting. More slots in athletics and boxing will be confirmed later. — VNS

The lacquer painting Junk Landscape by Phạm Hậu.

HÀ NỘI — A lacquer painting by Phạm Hậu sold for 833,000 euros (US$1 million) at an auction held by French auction house Aguttes.

The house did not reveal the identity of the buyer.

The painting Phong Cảnh Với Thuyền Buồm (Junk Landscape) was the second-most expensive from Hậu, after the 2019 sale of Cửu Ngư Quần Hội (Nine Carps in The Water) at $1.1 million by Sotheby’s Hong Kong.

According to the auction house, the painting is a perfect testament to a new generation of Vietnamese artists trained at the Indochina School of Fine Arts. Teaching at the school gave Phạm Hậu the richness of his colour palette, the traditional red and black mixed with gold and silver enhanced by an extremely rare blue giving completely new shades and more contrast.

The house also said the lacquer painting forms a screen with four vertical format panels showing the beauty of Việt Nam’s scenic spots. Lush vegetation like banana leaves, apple blossoms and bamboo emphasises the tropical nature of Việt Nam.

Painted in 1943 by the artist, the work includes four pieces paying homage to the beauty of the Vietnamese landscape with turquoise waters, traditional junks and rocks.

“The painting is the standard for Vietnamese lacquer fine arts,” said artist Tô Chiêm. “It was made with traditional lacquer technique and material.”

The painting sized at 104cm by 197.6cm had a starting price of 150,000 euros to 250,000 euros.

“Phạm Hậu’s reputation in the current painting market is undisputed, especially since lacquer paintings took the throne at international auction floor,” said fine art researcher Ngô Kim Khôi.

“He was famous for putting lacquer on paintings as well as applying it to commonly used items such as beds, cabinets, trays.

“He soon succeeded with exhibitions in Việt Nam and in Paris, especially since he won the Gold Medal at Salon 1935 in Hà Nội.”

Phạm Hậu (1903 – 1995) was one of the pioneers in lacquer painting. He created many beautiful artworks and large partitions and won several prestigious awards from 1935-1945.

He studied at the Indochina Fine Arts School from 1929 to 1934, the same generation of painters Trần Văn Cẩn and Nguyễn Đỗ Cung.

In the mid-1930s, he set up his first lacquer painting studio. He drafted a textbook that laid the theoretical foundation for the teaching of lacquer art.

His painting Gió Mùa Hạ (Summer Wind) earned him the State Award for Literature and Arts in 2012.

On the auction on June 7, the session also featured several other works by Vietnamese artists including Lê Phổ, Mai Trung Thứ and Vũ Cao Đàm. – VNS

After becoming a part of Phenikaa’s ecosystem, it is set to restructure, expand into other public transportation segments such as railroad and waterways in addition to urban bus services.

Le Yen Thanh, founder and CEO of BusMap JSC, told VnExpress that the startup decided to accept funding from Phenikaa because they share a similar vision.

Phenikaa aims to develop into a high-technology corporation with interests in various sectors like automation guided vehicles and Internet of Things, which would enable entry into smart transportation and smart city.

“By cooperating with Phenikaa Group, the startup will be able to take part in the corporation’s ecosystem, and have resources to develop further,” Thanh said.

Phenikaa said it has always sought projects that develop new technologies and breakthrough startups that bring benefits to the community.

BusMap, founded in 2013 by a group of technicians, is a free public transit application for urban passengers.

A real-time bus tracking feature was later added to the app to help users optimize their routes.

The app is based on core digital map technology, artificial intelligence and consultancy algorithms, which allow users to get access to urban bus maps and thus the best routes in terms of lowest fares and shortest travel time.

It has over two million users and assisted more than 50 million trips.

Last year it app won the first prize for ‘Smart Cities, Smart Living’ at the International Telecommunication Union’s Award, a global prize for outstanding technological initiatives.

The statistic was published in the first edition of Vietnamese Esports 2021, released by Vietnam Recreational and Electronic Sports Association (VIRESA) on June 10.

According to the white book, esports in Vietnam thrived in 2020 and became a form of entertainment due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Specifically, 80 percent of players said they spent more time on esports during the social distancing period, with 52.5 percent playing games daily at an average time of 2 hours 55 minutes.

Broadcasting platforms also recorded a spike in esports content. Typically, views on Facebook Gaming increased by 81.37 percent during the outbreak, while engagement and coverage also increased by 50 percent and 79.6 percent, respectively.

The sudden increase in the number of viewers and consumption of digital content in the past year has also benefited from the pandemic. Specifically, the views on YouTube Vietnam of some major tournaments like Arena World Championship 2020 reached 109 million, twice as high as in 2019.

2020 is also the year that esports became an official discipline at the 31st SEA Games, scheduled to take place in Vietnam later this year.