Vietnam sees great opportunity to access mRNA vaccine production technology: UNDP official

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is seeing a great opportunity to access the mRNA technology for vaccine production, said Patrick Haverman, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Vietnam, at a workshop held by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Health Strategy and Policy Institute (HSPI) under the Ministry of Health in Hanoi on May 22.

Haverman underlined the need for Vietnam to carefully consider the steps and timelines, the scale and sources of the required investment of funds, and the development of expertise to ensure this technology transfer's effectiveness and financial sustainability.

The collaboration among the key departments, institutes, enterprises, senior experts, and partners at the workshop will contribute to developing an effective national strategy to improve vaccine access in Vietnam and the broader region in the coming time.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed significant challenges for Vietnam and other countries in accessing vaccine supplies. In mid-2021, Vietnam had one of Southeast Asia's lowest COVID-19 vaccine coverage rates. However, through a combination of COVAX supplies, donations and procurement from international suppliers, Vietnam rapidly increased its vaccination rates in the latter half of 2021. This achievement not only saved lives but also created conditions for reopening and recovering from the economic impact of the pandemic.

The workshop aimed to disseminate the results of three studies on strengthening vaccine production and certification in Vietnam and to update on Vietnam’s participation in WHO’s mRNA technology transfer programme through the project "Support to Strengthening Vaccine Access and Health System Capacity for Vietnam's Response to COVID-19" which is funded by the Japanese Government through the UNDP.

The workshop provided a platform to share the key findings of three crucial studies conducted under this project, focusing on sharing international experiences on domestic vaccine development and production, mapping Vietnam's current vaccine production capacity, and reviewing international vaccine licensing policies and procedures, including licensing of international COVID-19 vaccines for use in Vietnam.

During the workshop, Vietnam's participation in the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme initiated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) was highlighted.

A significant highlight of the workshop was the proposal of a roadmap to establish Vietnam as a regional vaccine production center. This roadmap outlined the necessary steps and actions to enhance Vietnam's capabilities in vaccine production, contributing to regional health security.

Dr. Nguyen Khanh Phuong, HSPI Vice Director, said that Vietnam has the ability to master vaccine production technology as it has previously mastered technologies such as inactivated vaccines, antitoxin vaccines, subunit vaccines.

She underlined the need for Vietnam to focus on developing highly qualified and skilled human resources for vaccine production, while building a GMP (good manufacturing practice) production facility with a scale to meet domestic and export demand, among others./.