Tiếng Việt
日本語NEWS - NOTIFICATIONS, Health news
Journey to bring COVID-19 vaccine to Vietnam
Up to now (May 27), more than 2.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have arrived in Vietnam.
Bringing COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam is a long journey with outstanding efforts. More than 1 million doses have been administered. Many questions have been and are being raised about the supply work; Deploy COVID19 vaccination in the coming period.
After a discussion with Mr. Nitin Kapoor – President and General Director of AstraZeneca Vietnam; and Ms. Emily Hamblin – British Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City on this issue:
Mr. Nitin Kapoor – President and General Director of AstraZeneca Vietnam (left); and Ms. Emily Hamblin (right) – British Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City shared about the COVID-19 vaccine
Reporter: In the current context of an extremely complicated epidemic; Vaccines are considered by experts to be one of the fundamental solutions; help fight the pandemic. However; Besides, safety issues; as well as possible adverse reactions are big questions for people. As for AstraZenaca’s COVID-19 vaccine; How has efficiency been recorded up to now; as well as safety, sir?
Mr. Nitin Kapoor – President and General Director of AstraZeneca VietnamMr. Nitin Kapoor: AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine approved for circulation; has conditional or emergency use approvals in nearly 80 countries; World Health Organization (WHO); also authorized emergency use of the vaccine; to accelerate vaccine access to 142 countries through the COVAX Facility.
With more than 400 million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine administered worldwide; Our COVID-19 vaccines have helped save tens of thousands of lives and prevented tens of thousands of severe illnesses requiring hospitalization since the beginning of this year.
Regulators in the UK, EU; and the World Health Organization (WHO) have concluded that the benefits of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine significantly outweigh the extremely rare risks.
That paralle; Ensuring vaccine safety is always paramount; We are actively working with regulatory agencies, advisory bodies and the scientific community worldwide to learn more about the epidemiology and possible mechanisms behind these extremely rare events. This is to minimize possible risks.
Reporter: In Vietnam; AstraZeneca vaccine is the first vaccine approved by the Ministry of Health, but at the same time, Vietnam is also one of the first Asian countries to have access to this vaccine at an early stage. Please share about this journey. ?
Senior leaders of the Ministry of Health; British Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City; representative of Vietnam Vaccine Joint Stock Company (VNVC); AstraZeneca Vietnam Company Limited; Tan Son Nhat International Airport is present at the airport to welcome the first batch of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam under the purchasing contract between VNVC and AstraZeneca.
Mr. Nitin Kapoor: First of all, I would like to thank the Government of Vietnam; The Ministry of Health and you – the Vietnamese people – have been determined and joined hands to control the epidemic well in recent times.
Regarding the process of bringing AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to Vietnam, it is an effort and a long journey with maximum support from the Government, Ministry of Health, British Consulate General in Vietnam… In The situation is complicated, all activities must be implemented quickly, not just the health sector; produce drugs or supply vaccines.
As early as mid-2020; While the results and data of the clinical trial of the AstraZeneca vaccine have only been announced in phases 1-2, the data of phase 3 have not been officially announced; then the working process; Exchanges between AstraZeneca and the Ministry of Health have been implemented to minimize the time it takes to bring AstraZeneca’s vaccine to Vietnam as soon as the test results are completed.
With those efforts; Vietnam has become one of the first countries in Asia to have access to AstraZeneca’s vaccine through a memorandum of understanding signed between the Ministry of Health; AstraZeneca Vietnam and Vietnam Vaccine Joint Stock Company (VNVC) in November 2020; until February 2021; AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine was officially approved by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health. Till now; more than 1 million medical workers; frontline forces; People at high risk… in Vietnam have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. We appreciate the priority grouping solution in vaccination in Vietnam.
In the current period; The Ministry of Health and AstraZeneca are continuing efforts to achieve rapid access; supplying COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam.
On the evening of May 25; batch of COVID-19 vaccine Astr
The fourth aZeneca with 288,000 doses has arrived at Tan Son Nhat airport, bringing the total number of AstraZenca vaccines to Vietnam in recent times to nearly 2.9 million doses; Bringing the fourth batch of 288,000 to Vietnam was a huge effort when in less than 3 working days from the first information about the accessibility of this vaccine batch being given, all the documents were released. profile; Legal procedures have been implemented very quickly from all agencies; organizations and departments to bring batches of vaccines to Vietnam.
Achieving this is a decisive and proactive effort of the Ministry of Health in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bringing COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam is a long journey with outstanding efforts
Reporter: Dear Ms. Emily Hamblin; is one of the countries supporting the COVAX program to ensure fairness in access to COVID-19 vaccines among countries around the world; Could you please share more about the UK’s contributions to the COVAX program?
Ms. Emily Hamblin: The UK is well aware of the impact of the epidemic on communities around the world. The UK government is proud to be one of the biggest supporters of the COVAX mechanism; providing 548 million pounds to support the equitable distribution of vaccines in 92 countries around the world, including Vietnam. Besides; We are also proud that UK science and technology has played a pioneering role in rapid vaccine development; including vaccines from Oxford University and AstraZeneca group.
If the whole world has the same opportunity to access vaccines and vaccinations, then we will have a chance to quickly repel the epidemic and countries will reopen for trade and economic activities; At the same time, it stops the spread; virus mutations to be able to control the epidemic.
Besides the COVAX program; The British government also supports connectivity; build scientific cooperation relationships to share research; scientific achievements to support effective anti-epidemic work around the world. An example can be mentioned as the cooperation between Bristol University (UK); and VABIOTECH company (Vietnam); contributing to the goal of developing domestic vaccines in Vietnam.
Reporter: AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine is produced from many different units around the world.
Does the difference in the production origin of the vaccine make a difference in the approach (through COVAX or through a pre-purchase contract), the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine? If vaccinations from different manufacturers affect the effectiveness of immunity?
Mr. Nitin Kapoor: The shortest answer to the question you pose is “no”.
To produce large quantities of vaccines at a fast pace; We have built more than 10 parallel regional supply chains; and is cooperating with more than 20 partners in 15 different countries. AstraZeneca takes full responsibility for safety; the effectiveness and quality of all COVID-19 vaccines produced within our global supply network; includes manufacturing facilities across continents. This means that every batch of vaccine produced in our supply network must meet the same exacting quality and manufacturing standards.
At all production units; Quality control is carried out at every stage of production; to ensure the production process is well controlled and results are consistent as required. Each of these tests is validated and includes a procedure with each specific step that must be performed. To be put to use; Each batch of our vaccines undergoes more than 60 different quality control tests throughout the process from production to vaccination.
Reporter: According to statistics; The UK is one of the leading countries in COVID-19 vaccination in the world; Could you please share some more information about this issue?
Ms Emily Hamblin: Currently in the UK, about 37 million adults have been vaccinated against COVID-19; accounting for around 70% of the UK’s adult population. Of these, 21 million people have received the second dose.
Till now; vaccination program and policies implemented by the British Government in prevention work; combating the COVID-19 epidemic, such as regulations on wearing masks that have helped the UK control the COVID-19 epidemic; The number of recorded cases is low; protect the health of the community.
Reporter: With more than 20 partners in 15 different countries participating in AstraZeneca’s vaccine supply chain globally; What are the opportunities for Vietnam in technology transfer; yes th
To produce vaccines like other countries in the world?
Mr. Nitin Kapoor: The transfer of production technology is one of the key areas of concern for AstraZeneca; because the strategic approach chosen by AstraZeneca focuses on bringing the global community together; through collaboration with scientists; governments; multilateral organizations and manufacturers to develop agreements to develop and supply vaccines.
AstraZeneca’s current priority is to deliver on our global commitments to governments; international health organizations as quickly as possible to help end the pandemic. Therefore during this period AstraZeneca; will prioritize focusing on optimizing the existing supply chain; Then continue to develop new supply chains.
Before; AstraZeneca Vietnam has also evaluated Vietnam’s ability to participate in the global vaccine supply chain.
AstraZeneca has fully explored production capabilities from laboratories; biological production units in terms of technology adoption; production capacity; quality standards as well as global supply requirements… Because this is a process that requires a lot of time; This activity was paused last year so the company could focus on strengthening the production capacity of existing supply chains and partners; serving the urgent global vaccine supply goal.
Regarding future transfer issues; We recognize that Vietnam has momentum in developing pharmaceutical technology; biology… very good; so it is entirely possible to hope in; In the near future, there will be cooperation between AstraZeneca; Vietnamese units to participate in the supply chain; vaccine production not only for Vietnam but also globally.
At the same time in 2019; during the visit of President Nguyen Xuan Phuc to the AstraZeneca factory; In Sweden we also shared the intention; increase investment and transfer of pharmaceutical production technology with partners in Vietnam; Hopefully there will be a vaccine in the future.
Source: MINISTRY OF HEALTH
