Vietnam looks set to join a global race to develop a vaccine for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, who chairs the country’s national committee to battle the disease, on Tuesday presided over a meeting with leaders from various sectors to discuss ways to study and produce potential coronavirus vaccines, the Vietnam Government Portal reported.

The meeting participants also debated the results of coronavirus studies up to now, as well as the various methods of developing coronavirus vaccines around the world, at a time when countries are struggling to produce a potent drug or vaccine against the virus.

Deputy PM Dam gave the Ministry of Sciences and Technology the authority to lead the mission of studying and developing a COVID-19 jab.

As the leading unit, the ministry will collaborate with the Ministry of Health, the Vietnamese Academy of Sciences and Technology, and others on this mission.  

In fact, since the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, Vietnam’s scientific communities have tried their best to spur their research.

They have already managed to isolate the novel coronavirus and gradually developed a possible treatment therapy for COVID-19 patients.

On Monday, Vietnam announced that a Vietnamese test kit, made by the Vietnam Military Medical University and Viet A Company, had been approved by the World Health Organization after five strict rounds of testing and quality review.

This kit has been exported to Finland, Ukraine, Cambodia, Poland, and others.

Vietnam has also developed two methods of testing by itself, including real-time PCR and antibody techniques.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam has been regularly lauded for its successful handling of the disease.

The Southeast Asian country has confirmed 270 cases to date, with 219 recoveries and no fatality. 

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