Upon addressing the ongoing first session of the 15th legislature held on July 25, Minister Long stated that the country has reached a successful agreement regarding the transfer of technology for COVID-19 vaccines with the US, with production set to start next year.

Moving forward, a factory with a capacity to produce 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses is currently under construction and will be put into operation in the first half of 2022, Minister Long said.

This comes following the Hanoi-based Vabiotech company packaging its first batch of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine last week. These initial batches will be evaluated in Russia before being put into mass production in the nation at a later date. The tech transfer for the vaccine will be completed by the end of this year, the Minister said.

Vietnam represents one of the first four countries in the world to successfully isolate and culture the virus, thereby paving the way for vaccine research. It is also the first country in Southeast Asia to conduct phase three clinical trials on COVID-19 vaccines.

By August, research teams will all have had their second jab of the vaccine and will therefore be able to carry out the registration process as prescribed.

The nation has now secured commitments and agreements for over 130 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from China, the US, Japan, Australia, the UK, and other nations. It is also in the process of negotiation with other manufacturers for an additional 40 million doses which will bring the total to 170 million doses by 2021.

To date, approximately 4.5 million does have been administered, but only around 372,353 people having received the full two shots of the vaccine. VOV

Source: VOV