Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam at the meeting (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative toVietnam Kidong Park has said the Vaccine Alliance wants to invite Vietnam tojoin in research and production of vaccine against SARS-CoV-2.
During a meeting in Hanoi on June 30 chairedby Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control Vu Duc Dam, Park said the vaccine is expectedto be available in late 2021.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic is spreadingcomplicatedly worldwide with nearly 10.4 million infections and over 507,000 deaths.There are about 150,000 new cases and more than 4,000 fatalities on averageeach day. Notably, there is not any vaccine or medicine for treatment.
About the reopening of border gates and resumption of international flightswith several countries and territories, experts warned that as the pandemiclingers, countries should carefully consider the decision.
Park said the WHO has recommended givingpriority to necessary travel, considering monitoring capacity of each nation at border gates,public response and economic resilience.
Regarding vaccine production, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said two Vietnamese units are pilotinganti-COVID-19 vaccine on mice. In the near future, it will be experimented onprimates and humans.
He expected that the WHO and internationalorganisations will help step up vaccine production in the country.
Deputy PM Dam, for his part, said Vietnam is willing to partner with the worldin epidemic prevention and control. The country is now mastering technology toproduce four kinds of test kits with high efficiency and reasonable costs, he said.
He hoped that the WHO andinternational organisations would help popularise such products worldwide,towards driving back the pandemic./.
