Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long works with the Russian Direct Investment Fund on COVID-19 vaccine - Photo: Ministry of Health

Minister Long said that as early as August 2020, Vietnam sent an open letter proposing to buy COVID-19 vaccine from Russia, but because of production conditions, Russia had not yet guaranteed supply for other countries, including Vietnam. The Ministry of Health has continuously negotiated with the Russian side to secure the vaccine as soon as possible to serve Vietnamese people's vaccination needs. As of today, the Russian side has agreed to supply Vietnam with 20 million doses of vaccine in 2021, said Minister Long.

He added that Vietnam’s Vabiotech Company has cooperated with its Russian partner and is expected to manufacture Russia's COVID-19 vaccine in Vietnam by July 2021 with a capacity estimated to be 5 million doses per month. This is important for the Russian side to transfer vaccine production technology to Vietnam in the near future, said the Health Minister.