(Illustrative photo)

Vietnamese medical experts say waiving patent rights on COVID-19 vaccines will help countries produce their own vaccines.

Vietnam has been one of countries in the world with WHO-recognized technology and resources to produce vaccines. If Vietnam is given the technology and intellectual property rights of a COVID-19 vaccine, it is capable of producing the vaccine and supplying it to other countries.

Tran Dac Phu, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Ministry of Health, said: “Vietnam has experience in vaccine production, including vaccines of the universal vaccination program – measles, paralysis, hepatitis B, and Japanese encephalitis. Vaccines have played an important role in eliminating infectious diseases in Vietnam. We have produced vaccines and tested them through many stages.”

The Health Ministry has discussed with the WHO a transfer to Vietnam of the mRNA technology, used by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech to produce COVID-19 vaccines.

Vietnam has been researching its own vaccines. The Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology company, the Nha Trang Vaccines and Medical Biological Institute, and the Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No.1 of the Ministry of Health have all researched and tested a COVID-19 vaccine.

Pham Quang Thai of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology said: “Scientists have worked hard and their vaccines give us hope. Vietnam has internal strength and the ability to produce home-grown vaccines.”