Vietnam has maintained regular contacts with suppliers of the Russian coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine, Sputnik V, in a bid to get the vaccine, drugs, and treatment methods against the dangerous disease at the earliest time, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) Spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang has stated. The MoFA official made the statement at a regular press conference on October 15. The time of providing the vaccine for Vietnam will depend on results of clinical tests and pilot procedures in Russia, Ms. Hang added. Vietnam has also been building policies to support the reception, transportation, distribution, and use of COVID-19 vaccines, the diplomat revealed. Together with the recent efforts to curb the disease, the Vietnamese government has promoted the production of home-grown COVID-19 vaccines, she noted. Vietnam has so far had four local COVID-19 vaccine 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). (Lao Dong, Lao Dong)
