
HANOI -- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's commercial hub, is seeking more autonomy to accelerate its own vaccination drive as it comes under pressure from the central government's dual goals of growing the economy and containing the virus.
"Ho Chi Minh City must take the lead in pursuing the dual goal and not let a COVID-19 epidemic happen in the city," Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told the city's authorities on Thursday.