Vietnam capable of large scale mRNA vaccine production: minister

"We believe that when participating in this initiative, Vietnam will be able to produce mRNA vaccines on a large scale, contributing to overcome inequalities in access to vaccines," Long was quoted as saying in a Thursday foreign ministry press release.

Long was speaking virtually at a press conference of the World Health Organization (WHO) that announced Vietnam will be a recipient of mRNA technology alongside four other countries – Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Serbia.

"Vietnam has had a lot of experience in vaccine development over the past decades, its national vaccine quality management system has been recognized by WHO," he said.

The WHO's announcement of five additions to countries that receive the Covid vaccine technology from the center it has established in South Africa recognizes that the recipients are eligible and capable of receiving and using the technology.

It also recognizes that the countries will be able to receive training support from WHO to transit to the mass production stage at a relatively rapid pace.

The WHO had previously announced six African countries to receive the mRNA technology: Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia. Two other recipients in Latin America are Argentina and Brazil.

It is expected that the recipients will receive WHO support in planning and professional training starting next month.

It had on Feb 23 declared the establishment of the second hub in South Korea for training countries to make Covid-19 vaccines.