VNEXPRESS - Amidst an apparent global sigh of relief over recent Covid-19 vaccine developments, experts say Vietnam's access to an effective one is fraught with uncertainty. Toan Ha of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology said it is critical that Vietnam is able to produce its own vaccines to inoculate its population.
Vietnam has a strong track record in producing different types of vaccines for the local market and has successfully developed vaccines against A/H1N1, A/H5N1, A/H7N9, and seasonal influenza. The WHO has highly valued Vietnam’s capacity for quality vaccine production.
"I believe that Vietnam will be able to successfully develop clinically-tested Covid-19 vaccines in the near future. It is better to be self-reliant, being able to locally produce an affordable and safe vaccine to ensure that Vietnam has enough vaccines for the population than relying on foreign manufacturers," Toan said.
On December 17, Vietnam began human trials of Nanocovax, the first Vietnamese Covid-19 vaccine, produced by Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC in HCMC. The country currently has four Covid-19 vaccines under development.
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Batches of Vietnamese Covid-19 vaccine Nanocovax are placed into cold storage, between 2-8 degrees Celsius, at a laboratory in HCMC. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran.
12/29/2020