The research and development of COVID-19 vaccine at the Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No 1. (Photo: qdnd.vn)Hanoi (VNA) – The
has highlighted the need for countries to proactively boost vaccine manufacturing
and Vietnam is not an exception, according to experts.
The Quan doi Nhan dan (People’s Army) newspaper quoted Ong The Due, deputy head of
the Faculty of Health Financing and Health Technology Assessment of the Health
Strategy and Policy Institute under the Ministry of Health, as saying that the capacity to develop and manufacture vaccines will help countries avoid
risks caused by a shortage of vaccines for domestic demand when depending on
the supply of vaccines from outside.
Countries that can produce
vaccines will also be more proactive with strategies for disease prevention and
control, ensuring a timely response to epidemic situations, emerging diseases,
or the emergence of new virus variants in the future as well as improving the
health of the people and the community, he said.
Nguyen Khanh Phuong, Deputy Director of the Health Strategy and Policy Institute, said that Vietnam has many advantages in producing s, noting that the country has four
state-owned enterprises and some private establishments that meet good
manufacturing practice (GMP) standards. Vietnam has also mastered many vaccine technologies such as those for inactivated vaccines, antitoxin
vaccines, and subunit vaccines.
However, according to Phuong, the current
limitation in Vietnam’s vaccine production is that most domestically produced
vaccines are monovalent vaccines due to limited technical level and resources.
State investment in vaccine research and production is still low, and there is
a lack of sustainable financial resources to maintain a high rate of expanded
vaccination, she added.
Realising the need to strengthen domestic
vaccine production and certification capacity based on the successful
application of mRNA technology during the pandemic, Vietnam has participated in
the mRNA Technology Transfer Programme initiated by the World Health
Organisation (WHO).
According to Patrick Haverman, United Nations
Development Programme Deputy Resident Representative in Vietnam, this is a
great opportunity for Vietnam to access mRNA technology for vaccine production.
However, he underlined the need for Vietnam
to carefully consider the steps, scale and sources of the required investment as well as expertise development to ensure the effectiveness and financial sustainability of this technology transfer.
The collaboration among the key ministries, sectors, departments,
institutes, enterprises, senior experts, and partners will contribute to
developing an effective national strategy to improve vaccine access in Vietnam in
the coming time, Haverman said.
Phuong also laid stress on the development of highly qualified and skilled human resources for vaccine production and the building of GMP facilities to meet domestic and
export demand./.
Source: VietnamPlus
