Vietnam May Produce COVID-19 Vaccine by October Next Year: Official

With some unprecedented changes in vaccine research and evaluation processes, Vietnam is expected to produce COVID-19 vaccine and put it into use by October, 2021, said Mr. Nguyen Ngo Quang, deputy head of the Administration of Science, Technology and Training, under the Ministry of Health (MoH). Mr. Quang made the statement at a conference on speeding up the production of the COVID-19 vaccine with the participation of domestic and international scientists on July 22. The health ministry will shorten evaluation and test time for Vietnam-made coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine but still ensure that the vaccine that will be provided for people is the best, Acting Minister of Health Professor Nguyen Thanh Long said at the event. As many as four producers, namely Vaccine and Biological Production No.1 (VabioTech), Center for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biologicals (POLYVAC), Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC), and Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC (Nanogen), have sought to develop the COVID-19 vaccine by different methods, and all of them have managed to own their technologies, Mr. Long revealed. Vietnam will also set up a vaccine fund to get the fastest access to COVID-19 vaccines in the world, Mr. Long added. Vietnam has so far become one of 38 countries to be able to produce vaccines in line with the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO). (Thanh Nien, Zing, Viet Times, VnExpress)