Vietnam expects to massively produce own Covid-19 vaccine by mid-2022: Expert

With the current progress, Vietnam is hopeful of licensing and massively producing a safe and effective domestically-made Covid-19 vaccine by mid-2022, Kinh te & Do thi quoted Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thu Van, head of the Vietnam national vaccine product program for human use, as saying.

Currently, four Vietnamese pharmaceutical companies and agency including Nanogen, Vabiotech, Polyvac and the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC) are researching anti-Covid-19 vaccines, Dr. Van said, adding that each of them has a different approach to technology.

A staffer takes samples of mice for Vaccine Covid-19 injection. Photo: Minh Quyet

The doctor stressed Vietnam is still in the research phase at laboratories and production process development, the four's pre-clinical test results have also been incompleted.

"If we exert all efforts and everything is going well, we hope that Vietnam would complete all laboratory evaluation data which totally meet the criteria in the next four months, and Vietnam would have clinical trials in humans by the second quarter of 2021," said Dr. Van.

The Ministry of Health has committed that if Vietnam produces Covid-19 vaccine successfully, the ministry will provide all possible support to shorten all stages but it must ensure a safe and good vaccine, she added.

More than 170 countries are engaged in researching and testing anti-Covid-19 vaccines. Vietnam is working with partners, including China and Russia, on vaccine manufacturing.

Besides developing Covid-19 vaccines, Vietnam’s health ministry is tasked with strengthening international cooperation with countries which already have clinical trial results for Covid-19 vaccines.

However, it is not easy to buy Covid-19 vaccines because the demand far exceeds the production capacity. Governments that want to buy the vaccines must make a down payment.

Therefore, Dr. Van suggested people remain vigilant, especially by closely complying with the heath ministry’s anti-pandemic protocols, as the looming winter-spring weather is conducive to the spread of the virus.

Vietnam has gone 87 straight days without locally acquired Covid-19 cases. The Covid-19 tally in the country currently stands at 1,341, including 691 locally infected cases. As many as 1,179 patients have recovered from the disease while the death toll stays at 35.