HCMC – As vaccination is a decisive and long-term solution to curb the Covid-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has urged vaccine scientists, researchers and producers to speed up work to locally produce Covid-19 vaccines as soon as possible.
At a meeting on June 7 with domestic scientists, researchers and drugmakers, the Government leader said that Vietnam must secure enough Covid-19 vaccine supplies for 75 million residents by the end of the year. The country will still need a huge supply of vaccines in the coming years, the local media reported.
Therefore, the country must successfully execute the vaccination strategy with Covid-19 vaccines treated as social products rather than commercial ones. The local Covid-19 vaccine production will contribute to the development of the pharmaceutical sector and the protection of local residents.
The prime minister said that Covid-19 vaccine research and development were a hard job, so more efforts should be made to make it a success.
He said that to produce Covid-19 vaccines in the country, there must be measures such as removing regulatory obstacles, mobilizing funds, streamlining administrative procedures and encouraging local residents to support and use locally-produced vaccines.
The prime minister also assigned the national steering committee for Covid-19 infection prevention and control to direct the research and development of Covid-19 vaccines and build a national program on vaccine production.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health needs to forecast the Covid-19 vaccine demand and supply and coordinate with other ministries and agencies to work out financial plans, prepare human resources and facilitate vaccine production.
In addition, the Ministry of Science and Technology will have to draft proposals on preferential policies for scientists and experts involved in the process of researching and developing Covid-19 vaccines.
According to the Ministry of Health, two domestic vaccine producers which are conducting Covid-19 vaccine trials have a combined production capacity of 30-40 million doses per year. Two others are negotiating with foreign partners to receive Covid-19 vaccine production technologies with an annual capacity of 200-300 million doses.
