HCMC – Vietnam Vaccine JS Company (VNVC) on November 2 signed a contract with AstraZeneca to buy over 25 million Covid-19 vaccine doses, following the previous 30 million doses.
The contract signing ceremony took place in the United Kingdom in the presence of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, the local media reported.
This contract is important as the Covid-19 pandemic has still been raging in Vietnam, and the local demand for Covid-19 vaccines remains high.
Thus, VNVC successfully ordered 55 million AstraZeneca doses. As for the previous 30 million, Vietnam has received nearly 22 million doses and the remaining eight million will be handed over to Vietnam this month, Soriot said.
In addition, part of the 25 million new doses will be shipped to the country next month, Soriot added.
Under the new contract, Vietnam could order AstraZeneca’s new Covid-19 vaccine candidate—AZD2816—which is undergoing research.
VNVC also bought 20,000 doses of AZD7442, a long-acting antibody combination that potentially offers up to 12 months of protection from Covid-19.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, PM Chinh highly appreciated cooperation projects between AstraZeneca and Vietnam, especially AstraZeneca’s provision of the Covid-19 vaccine to the country. He thanked the company for supporting Vietnam in the fight against the pandemic.
The Government leader suggested AstraZeneca accelerate the handover of the Covid-19 vaccine to Vietnam and expand its cooperation with the country in the healthcare sector, in terms of not only vaccines but also medicines and preventive healthcare.
At the ceremony, AstraZeneca also announced an investment of VND2 trillion to help Vietnam improve its capability to produce medicines, so patients have better access to high-quality medicines.
In the 2022-2030 period, AstraZeneca will produce three medicines in Vietnam.
Soriot said AstraZeneca’s establishment of a medicine production unit in Vietnam would help meet the demand for healthcare services. In addition, new Covid-19 vaccine supply agreements will help Vietnamese people access AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine and the first long-acting antibody combination.
AstraZeneca will also choose several partners in Vietnam to transfer its technology and provide the necessary knowledge and technical processes to ensure that its medicines for non-infectious diseases produced in Vietnam are of high quality and meet international standards.
This investment follows an investment of VND5 trillion of AstraZeneca in Vietnam in the 2020-2024 period, announced during a visit by State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc to Sweden in 2019.
