Vietnam has started a process to produce vaccines against Covid-19 and is expected to make a breakthrough thanks to the country's previous relevant achievements, according to scientists and medical experts in the field. 

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam addresses the meeting on April 29.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam on April 29 assigned the Ministries of Science, Health and other relevant agencies to develop vaccines against Covid-19. Reports from ministries and institutes show that from the first days of the outbreak of Covid-19, they started studying, isolating, cultivating viruses, producing biomedical products for testing and progressively improved the treatment regimen.

According to world vaccine researchers, the development and production of vaccines requires multi-sectoral and long-term cooperation. 

The research on Covid-19 vaccines has been sped up all over the world. Many clinical trials in the US and China are underway to test seven vaccines against the novel coronavirus. With 800 people volunteering for vaccine trial, the UK has also joined in the race since April 23. Currently, there is no official vaccine or special treatment for Covid-19 worldwide.

Scientists in many countries are testing vaccines against tuberculosis, measles or polio for Covid-19 treatment.

In Vietnam, the National Lung Hospital has completed a pilot protocol to use Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) tuberculosis vaccine to treat Covid-19, pending approval by the Ministry of Health. 

If approved, the trial will be conducted on 800 frontline healthcare workers in two tropical disease hospitals of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.