The research and development of COVID-19 vaccine at the Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No 1. (Photo: qdnd.vn)

Hanoi (VNA) - TheCOVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the n🌳eed for countries to proactively boost vaccine manufacturingcapacity and Vietnam is not an exception, according🌟 to experts.

The Quan doi Nhan dan (People’s Army) newspaper quoted Ong The Due, deputy head ofthe Faculty of Health Financing and Health Technology Assessment of the HealthStrategy and Policy Institute under the Ministry of Health, as saying that the capacity to develop and manufacture vaccines will help countries avoidrisks caused by a shortage of vaccines for domestic demand when depending onthe supply of vaccines from outside.

Countries that can producevaccines will also be more proactive with strategies for disease prevention andcontrol, ensuring a timely response to epidemic situations, emerging diseases,or the emergence of new virus variants in the future as well as improving thehealth of the people and the community, he said.

Nguyen Khanh Phuong, Deputy Director of the Health Strategy and Policy Institute, said that Vietnam has many advantages in producing vaccines, noting that the country has fourstate-owned enterprises and some private establishments that meet goodmanufacturing practice (GMP) standards. Vietnam has also mastered many vaccine technologies such as those for inactivated vaccines, antitoxinvaccines, and subunit vaccines.

However, according to Phuong, the currentlimitation in Vietnam's vaccine production is that most domestically producedvaccines are monovalent vaccines due to limited technical level and resources.State investment in vaccine research and production is still low, and there isa lack of sustainable financial resources to maintain a high rate of expandedvaccination, she added.

Realising the need to strengthen domesticvaccine production and certification capacity based on the successfulapplication of mRNA technology during the pandemic, Vietnam has participated inthe mRNA Technology Transfer Programme initiated by the World HealthOrganisation (WHO).

According to Patrick Haverman, Unit😼ed NationsDevelopment Programme Deputy Resident Representative in Vietnam, this is agreat opportunity for Vietnam to access mRNA technology for vaccine production.

However, he underlined the need for Vietnamto carefully consider the steps, scale and sources of the required investment as well as expertise development to ensure the effectiveness and financial sustainability of this technology transfer. 

The collaboration among the key ministries, sectors, departments,institutes, enterprises, senior experts, and partners will contꦚribℱute todeveloping an effective national strategy to improve vaccine access in Vietnam inthe coming time, Haverman said.