Vaccine self-sufficiency needed to return to new normal: Deputy PM

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam held a working session with leaders of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science and Technology to review COVID-19 vaccines, medicines and biological products for testing.

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At the event, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan said Vietnam has so far licenced eight types of COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use, built specific criteria and standards for licensing home-grown vaccines based on feedback from experts of the World Health Organisation, which are scheduled to be issued before October 20.

About medicines, the Ministry of Health will create favourable conditions for firms to import materials and preapre for production after they are officially licenced. Several companies have received technologies to produce rapid antigen testing kits at reasonable costs.

Dam, who is also Deputy Head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, said Vietnam has mastered technologies to produce biological products for testing and anti-pandemic equipment. At the same time, vaccine research and production have made initial positive steps with clinical trials since the middle of this year.

The Ministry of Health also reported that Vietnam has fully been self-sufficient in biological products for RT-PCR and rapid anti-gen testing.

The Deputy PM asked the Ministry of Science and Technology to promptly carry out the vaccine research programme till 2030 and scientific tasks for pandemic prevention and control, update the latest advanced technologies for the effort, and report issues out of its authority to the PM.

The Ministry of Health was assigned to work with ministries and agencies concerned to forecast the pandemic situation and demand for vaccines, medicines, biological products and anti-pandemic equipment. Considering the domestic situation, it should build a plan to import them in an economical and effective manner while encouraging the development of the domestic pharmaceutical industry.

The Ministries of Finance, Planning and Investment, Health, Science and Technology and the Vietnam Social Security must actively deal with suggestions by localities, medical establishments and enterprises regarding procurement mechanism and payment./.

VNA