Vietnam accelerates research, production of vaccine against COVID-19

Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long speaks at the event (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Health held a workshop in Hanoi on July 22 to speed up the research and production of a vaccine against COVID-19.

Acting Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said this is the priority of all countries at present as the pandemic is still developing complicatedly.

Without a vaccine, it is difficult to bring life back to normal, he said, adding that so far the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide has surpassed 15 million with over 600,000 deaths.

To date, Vietnam has recorded 401 infections, mainly imported. The country has gone through nearly 100 days without new local transmissions, Long reported.

The pandemic is curbed well at home; however, social distancing is just a temporary measure to limit the number of new infections and prevent an outbreak. The most effective solution at present is a vaccine.

According to Long, Vietnam is one of the 38 countries in the world that has a vaccine quality management system meeting the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s standards. Therefore, if COVID-19 vaccine is successfully produced in the country, it could be exported, contributing to the prevention of the pandemic in other countries.

He asked manufacturers and research units to continuously study the production of a vaccine against the disease.

At the workshop, representatives of four domestic manufacturers reported preliminary results and research plans for the production of the vaccine in Vietnam./.