Scientific forum discusses impact of COVID-19 vaccine race

VOV.VN - The impact of the race for the COVID-19 vaccine on international relations both globally and domestically took centre stage at a scientific forum held by the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) on January 12 in Hanoi.

The forum ran with the theme of “COVID-19 vaccine race and influence competition among countries” and saw a gathering of scientists, researchers, businessmen, and management officials from across the country who gave feedback and put forward proposals on policies related to the topic.

As part of his address at the event, Dang Xuan Thanh, vice president of the VASS, stated that COVID-19 has been causing non-traditional insecurity to both health care and economy, while competition among global powers has been posing continued global insecurity.

Associate Prof. Dr. Le Van Dong, director of the Military Institute for Preventive Medicine, noted that there have been four major COVID-19 vaccine production technologies applied in mass production worldwide. He added that countries are therefore striving to produce vaccines to keep up with the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Associate Prof. Dr. Bui Quang Tuan, director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics, said that the research, development, and co-operation in the transfer of COVID-19 vaccine production technology will help to facilitate the country’s vaccine diplomacy. This will serve to create a greater bilateral partnership with other countries and reduce its dependence on outside sources of vaccines.

Prof. Dr. Tuan therefore proposed that the country should restructure the National COVID-19 Vaccine Fund to include higher spending on COVID-19 vaccines, treatment medicine research, and development activities.

Furthermore, it can also be viewed as essential to complete mechanisms and policies related to vaccine diplomacy, while simultaneously increasing the donation of vaccines and medical supplies to other countries, and enhancing Vietnamese influence and ties with other nations, he said.

Participants at the event also clarified the various impacts of the COVID-19 vaccine race on developing countries, including Vietnam, as well as the role of vaccine diplomacy in promoting Vietnamese relations with other nations.

Mời quý độc giả theo dõi VOV.VN trên