BioNTech Annual General Meeting Vaccine effective against mutants

Status: 06/22/2021 6:13 p.m.

BioNTech boss Sahin uses the vaccine manufacturer’s general meeting to spread good news: Production will be increased and the vaccine also protects against virus variants. In view of the growing spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus, which is considered to be more dangerous, many people are wondering how the effectiveness of the various vaccines is doing in this regard. At today’s Annual General Meeting, CEO Ugur Sahin gave the all-clear for BioNTech’s product: “There is currently no evidence that our vaccine needs to be adapted to the variants in circulation,” he said. That does not mean that the company is stopping development: According to Sahin, BioNTech is working on flexible processes in the areas of technology, production and approval.

Constant analysis

In order to be prepared and to be able to react quickly if a third dose should be required to boost existing vaccinations or to adapt to a new virus strain, BioNTech constantly analyzes the effectiveness of the vaccine against newly emerging variants, the CEO explained.

Sahin also commented on the subject of booster vaccinations: It is not yet known when and how often a booster will be necessary. But he assumes “that a third vaccination is of great value for boosting immunity,” said Sahin. Knowledge about the corona virus is steadily increasing. “We observe that immunity will decrease over time and new variants will emerge.”

Sahin against patent release

The one raised by US President Joe Biden and other politicians Request for the release of patents to enable license-free vaccine production in developing countries, the BioNTech boss rejected. It is important to be able to make the vaccine available worldwide “as quickly and as comprehensively as possible”. However, raw materials are currently the “limiting factor”, not patents.

BioNTech is working with partners to deliver the vaccine cheaply to developing countries. However, a patent release would not bring additional amounts of vaccine. The production of the vaccine is very complex and consists of around 50,000 work steps.

Production is increased

During the Annual General Meeting, Sahin also commented on production: The BioNTech boss confirmed that the company, together with its US partner Pfizer, is aiming for a production capacity of up to three billion vaccine doses this year.

In the coming year 2022 it should be more than three billion. BioNTech will manufacture at least half of this. To date, BioNTech and Pfizer have shipped more than 700 million doses of their Covid-19 vaccine to over 100 countries worldwide.

Dividend is possible

The shareholders should also benefit from the billions in sales generated with the corona vaccine. Chief Financial Officer Sierk Poetting said that in the next financial year it should be checked whether and in what amount a dividend is possible.

However, the strategic priority for 2021 is the reinvestment of the capital in order to further advance innovations in various therapeutic areas and technologies as well as our corporate development, said Poetting. The Mainz biotechnology company achieved a net profit of 1.1 billion euros on sales of 2.05 billion euros in the first quarter of this year .

New production facilities

There was also news from BioNTech outside of the Annual General Meeting. The European Medicines Agency’s Committee on Medicinal Products for Human Use gives the go-ahead for two more production facilities to manufacture the joint corona vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer.

One becomes accordingly in Reinbek, Schleswig-Holstein, operated by Allergopharma, the parent company of Dermapharm , the other in the Swiss stone from Novartis Pharma. The work can be started immediately, since no approval from the EU Commission is required

background

Fight against Corona What speaks for and against child vaccinations

Status: 06/22/2021 8:57 a.m.

The debate about whether children should be vaccinated against Corona is in full swing. Companies are pressing ahead with their studies for the approval of a vaccine for young children as well. What is the current state of research?

From Axel John, SWR

Just a few steps from the magnificent Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin is the rather inconspicuous Hausvogteiplatz. But what is sensational is what happens there in a sober office building. The Association of Research-Based Drug Manufacturers (VfA) has its headquarters here. The experts maintain contact with pharmaceutical companies all over the world – also when it comes to corona vaccine research, which is still under high pressure.

Particularly strict requirements for tests with minors

A team of specialists is constantly collecting the latest data from all over the world. Rolf Hömke is also there. The biochemist is an expert in research and drug safety. “When developing a new drug, it is standard that the preparation is initially only tested on adults. If these results are correspondingly good, studies with minors follow.” However, a prerequisite is a medical benefit in children and adolescents. Hömke gives an example: “A new antibiotic, for example, is also needed for children – but a preparation against prostate cancer is not.” Even higher requirements would apply to the tests in order to avoid stress in young people as far as possible. Both parents must have agreed together. The conditions also demanded that the children also say yes as soon as possible. “Money cannot be earned with such participation. The test subjects receive an expense allowance. The participants are mostly idealists or sick people who hope for an effective treatment.”

Intermediate results of the vaccine test series for children under twelve years of age BioNTech / Pfizer started a study in March 2021 with children aged six months and younger than twelve years. In the first phase, a small number of minors initially received different doses. In the current phase II, around 4500 young people are to be tested for the effectiveness of the vaccine in more than 90 facilities in the USA, Finland, Poland and Spain. Here researchers analyze the respective immune response. Results could be available from September.

Moderna reported the start of the phase II / III study in March. More than 6,700 children between six months and under twelve years of age in the United States and Canada are expected to participate. Here, too, it was initially about the best dosage. The effectiveness is then checked in the further course.

With the vaccine from AstraZeneca investigations began at Oxford University in February. Several hundred young people and children between the ages of six and under 18 should take part. The study has been temporarily stopped by the British authorities after reports of very rare side effects with thrombosis.

Janssen / Johnson & Johnson started testing his vaccine with adolescents aged twelve and over in April 2021. If the interim results are good, younger test persons should join the group. However, this study is also currently on hold.

Sinovac has been testing its CoronaVac vaccine in China since the beginning of May. In phase II, minors between the ages of three and 17 are to be tested here.

Source: VfA

STIKO sees no rush

Professor Dr. Fred Zepp follows vaccine development with great interest. On the one hand, Zepp is a member of the Standing Vaccination Commission (STIKO). The committee drew up the recommendations for the sequence of corona vaccinations. Zepp was also director of the Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine at the Mainz University Hospital for many years. He believes it is imperative that vaccines be developed for minors as well. This is particularly important for high-risk patients such as children with chronic cardiopulmonary diseases, emphasizes Zepp. “The mRNA vaccine process is an impressive development with excellent prospects. But we do not yet have any broad experience with children,” explains Zepp. For him it is important that the development of an adult’s organism is differentiated. The acute side effects can usually be recognized in the first twelve to 16 weeks. “With infants or children, on the other hand, I have an organism that is subject to constant development. That is why I say: We are currently under no time pressure in this group and should wait for further study results.” In addition, there are hardly any children in Europe who are seriously ill with Covid-19. Less than 80 children in Germany were being treated in an intensive care unit because of Corona. There have also been very few deaths that are even below the rate of flu. Zepp is also referring to a few cases in adolescents in the USA who developed heart muscle inflammation after the second vaccination with BioNTech. The authorities are currently investigating whether there is a connection. “The coronavirus will continue to change. I expect that the older population could also be affected here.”

“The pathogen spreads unhindered, especially in children”

In Munich, Matthias Kromayer leans over the latest results from corona vaccine research in children. The microbiologist recommends vaccinating minors according to the relevant studies and approvals – regardless of the vaccine. Kromayer works on the board of MIG AG. The company is currently investing in 30 start-ups. In 2008, BioNTech received a good 13 million euros as an initial investment from MIG.

For Kromayer, a vaccination rate of 70 to 80 percent in the population is the goal. “Then there is a good chance of paralyzing the spread of the virus and mutated variants. The pathogen spreads unhindered, especially in children. They are closer together and cannot yet adhere to the hygiene rules,” explains Kromayer. According to the Federal Statistical Office, there are more than 8.5 million people under the age of twelve in Germany. For Kromayer, this group is so large that it should not be ignored in the fight against pandemics. At the same time, children have a much stronger immune system that can deal with Corona much better. In this way, fewer pathogens would presumably be transmitted: “The vaccine side effects in children are likely to be very limited, but the resulting protection for other population groups is high. That should be weighed up.”

Politicians do not want to commit themselves yet

In Berlin, too, the Federal Ministry of Health has long since registered the emerging debate. Whether and to what extent children should also be vaccinated in the fight against Corona is still silent. Upon request, the press office simply declares: “The results of studies and possible approval by the European authorities remain to be seen.”

According to BioNTech / Pfizer, reliable results from the currently ongoing study series can be expected from September onwards. By then, at the latest, the discussion about the best vaccination strategy will really start

BioNTech Annual General Meeting Successful with mRNA technology

Status: 22.06.2021 10:25 a.m.

At today’s Annual General Meeting, the BioNTech top management can boast great successes. This is not only due to the corona vaccine, in which the company has left many competitors behind.

From Bianca von der Au, ARD stock exchange studio

What happened to the Tübingen-based vaccine manufacturer CureVac is actually the norm in the biotech industry: one drug candidate disappoints. Research is tedious and devours billions. The rapid success of the competitor BioNTech was more than a stroke of luck, believes asset manager Hendrik Leber from the private corporation Acatis. The Mainz biotech company did a lot of things right, he says. “BioNTech made the decision very quickly to develop a vaccine at all. And the choice of partner to work with Pfizer was an extremely good decision.” The US pharmaceutical company opened the door to the American market and at the same time pushed ahead with marketing and clinical studies at a rapid pace.

Does CureVac’s chance lie in the mutants?

The Tübingen competitor CureVac is not only lagging in terms of time, but also in terms of time Effectiveness of his vaccine after. Experts are divided as to whether this deficit can be made up at all. Pharmaceutical specialist Alexander Nuyken from the consulting company EY gives the race is not lost for CureVac – in view of the constant number of new mutations and a low vaccination rate among the world’s population.

mRNA vaccine with great potential

However, the EY expert sees enormous potential in biotechnology, especially in the field, beyond the corona vaccine novel mRNA technology , which CureVac is also researching. “It was originally not developed with Covid in mind, but for completely different therapies, such as cancer”recalls Nuyken. There is the potential to address other diseases with this technology, namely, according to the expert, “cheaper, faster and more efficient.”

There is great hope – not only among investors – that mRNA technology can develop effective agents against previously incurable diseases – not only against cancer, but also against Alzheimer’s, for example. BioNTech has been researching a vaccine against cancer for a long time and, a few days ago, treated a skin cancer patient with an mRNA vaccine for the first time in a phase II study.

Would you like more willingness to take risks?

The path to the surprising success with the corona vaccine was only possible for BioNTech thanks to patient donors in the background. EY pharma expert Nuyken believes that there is a need for greater willingness to take risks in Germany. “How do we get the good science that we undoubtedly have in Germany in companies? And how can we then further develop these companies until they are ready for the market?”the expert asks.

He sees this as the biggest hurdle in the German environment. “In contrast to the American market, we have significantly less capital that is available for the development of these companies.” So it’s no wonder that CureVac and BioNTech have been listed on the Nasdaq technology exchange in the USA in the past two years. But also in Germany, Corona and the search for a vaccine have put the biotech industry in the (spotlight) light. According to EY, the German biotechnology company is in the Corona year 2020 so much capital flowed in as never before . In CureVac, the federal government even invested 300 million euros – a risky investment

After interim analysis CureVac defends its vaccine

Status: 06/18/2021 10:19 a.m.

Although an interim analysis of the CureVac vaccine only showed an effectiveness of 47 percent, company boss Haas does not want to know anything about a failure. He is hoping for further tests so that the vaccine will be ready for the market after all. The negative news for the Tübingen company CureVac continues. At first, the company lagged behind the competition in developing its corona vaccine. Then the company went late to the crucial phase 3 to test its vaccine – at that time there were already several variants of the coronavirus. The next bad news followed yesterday: CureVac announced in a mandatory stock market announcement that, according to an interim analysis, its corona vaccine had a preliminary effectiveness of 47 percent against Covid 19 disease “of any severity” have. The value is significantly higher for the other preparations approved in the EU.

“Wild type hardly plays a role anymore”

Company boss Franz-Werner Haas has now gone on the offensive. He defended the company’s corona vaccine against the dpa news agency. No other vaccine has been tested on so many virus variants, he said.

“In fact, it is actually not correct to compare the number of the provisional effectiveness of our corona vaccine and the numbers of the effectiveness of other vaccines”said Haas. The study on the corona vaccine candidate CVnCov contained 29 virus variants. The original virus, the wild type, hardly plays a role anymore. “The efficacy figures for the other vaccines would probably look different if their studies had been carried out at a later date.”

Degree in three weeks

The Tübingen-based company would like to complete the analysis of the data from the final study phase in the next two to three weeks. Haas was convinced that the effectiveness of the vaccine would change again. As soon as this has been completed, CureVac will advise the EMA as to whether further data is required.

The company remains convinced that it will bring its vaccine to approval. According to Haas, even a possibly relatively low effectiveness should not stand in the way. “In view of the pandemic, it can only be said: If there is an effective vaccine, it should also be used.” Haas also referred to the numerous developing countries in which little or no corona vaccines are currently available. The scientific director of the vaccine study at CureVac, Peter Kremsner, believes that it will certainly be possible to make the vaccine operational. In an interview with the BR he said: “That will work for sure. From my point of view, this will not be possible in the next few weeks. But it will be possible to prepare the vaccine so that it can be very effective.”

“It was a noble cause”

The SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach estimates that the setback when entering the market will contribute to the vaccination campaign losing pace for two to three weeks. The promise of the federal government to make a vaccination offer to all adults by the end of the summer is not at risk. “We will reach herd immunity in mid-September”said Lauterbach in the daily topics .

Lauterbach pointed out that the CureVac serum is the “noble” I wanted to be a cheap and very effective vaccine. It would have been predestined for poorer countries. The EU had promised 400 million doses of CureVac to poorer countries. Lauterbach assessed it as a tragedy that this delivery has now been canceled.

No withdrawal of the investor

The announcement of the preliminary effectiveness had caused a drastic plunge in the stock exchange price of CureVac. Investor Dietmar Hopp still believes in the company. He will definitely stay as an investor, he said “Munich Mercury”. He is a firm believer in the company.

The federal government is also holding on to its stake in CureVac, as the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Last year, he entered CureVac through the KfW development bank with 300 million euros and, according to KfW, holds a share of 16 percent. The federal government has no influence on the operational business, explained the ministry spokeswoman

CureVac Story of a disappointed hope

Status: 06/17/2021 8:30 p.m.

While the world is now being vaccinated with BioNTech, the vaccine from CureVac has proven to be ineffective. How could the two great German hopefuls develop so differently?

By Thomas Aders and Sebastian Deliga, SWR

At first it was a German head-to-head race between the Mainz-based pharmaceutical company BioNTech and the Tübingen researchers from CureVac. Both use the same technology “Messenger RNA”, the share prices of both companies initially took off on the stock exchanges, and both have professional and global partners. The Mainz-based company was able to bring the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on board, while the Tübingen-based company found what they were looking for at Bayer. And not only that: At the beginning of September, a man came to visit Tübingen, whose name makes technology enthusiasts, e-mobility enthusiasts and stock market speculators enthusiastic: Tesla boss Elon Musk. Even before he paid his respects to Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, he stopped by CureVac. For the production of their vaccines, the people of Tübingen used the technology of the medium-sized company Grohmann in the Eifel, which in turn has been part of the Tesla empire since 2017.

The field of support from both companies was also in competition: in Tübingen, SAP boss Dietmar Hopp became the majority owner, in Mainz the twins Thomas and Andreas Strüngmann, who had become rich in the pharmaceutical business, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation were behind BioNTech boss Ugur Sahin. From the outside, it was still the duel between digitization pioneer Hopp and oncology professor Sahin. Both were believed to be successful.

But since the beginning of 2021, the people of Baden-Württemberg have stumbled in the race against the Rhineland-Palatinate; while the BioNTech drug was approved by the authorities, CureVac has still not fully completed the third phase of its vaccine testing. Today’s publication of the inferior efficacy of the Tübingen vaccine candidate CVnCOV of only 47 percent – in contrast to 90 percent for BioNTech / Pfizer – was the end of hopes for mass production soon and the end of hopes for strong profits on the stock market; the price of CureVac has more than halved.

Why does the vaccine protect so poorly against Covid-19?

When the Tübingen-based company delayed the crucial phase 3 and tested the vaccine, there were already several mutations of the corona virus. That made research much more difficult. Virologist Martin Stürmer from the University of Frankfurt also sees this as one of the problems: “BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Co. – they only had to deal with B.1.1.7 (the Alpha variant, first developed in England).” In addition, it was the Tübingen’s unwritten law to administer RNA as pure as possible and not chemically treated. This also had fatal consequences for CureVac, because the competition achieved a much higher concentration by modifying the messenger RNA. The head of the CureVac vaccination study, Peter Kremsner: “BioNTech and Moderna were able to dose three to ten times as high because they chemically changed the RNA. At CureVac, the dogma was that the RNA should be injected as unchanged as possible, which is basically correct, but unfortunately it did not work.” The goal of the Tübingen was a noble one. And the SPD politician and epidemiologist Karl Lauterbach is talking about the company’s fate today tagesschau.de “terribly sorry”. He always admired the particularly ethical and moral standards of the Tübingen population. But Lauterbach no longer sees any basis for hope either. Even if CureVac starts all over again, the competitors from BioNTech or Johnson & Johnson, for example, have made further progress in their research. So the Tübingen train left for many.

What does this mean for the vaccination campaign in Germany and Europe?

Epidemiologist Lauterbach very much regrets the bitter fate of CureVac, but he sees the German vaccination campaign as hardly endangered in the Tübingen disaster. Several other vaccines worked to a great extent in his opinion, and in his view today’s setback would result in a delay of no more than three weeks. “By the end of September we will probably have a vaccination rate of 70 percent, and thus herd immunity.” The Federal Ministry of Health is also anything but panicked. Got the latest news about CureVac “no impact on the pace of our vaccination campaign”. Brussels does not want to comment directly on the CureVac disaster, that is a matter for the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in Amsterdam, which decides on the approval of vaccine preparations. However, the EU has apparently taken precautions in the event that CureVac fails: The contract with the Tübingen region includes “Termination clauses in the event that the vaccine is not approved by the EMA”. There are also rather composed comments from Parliament: of course, the results at CureVac are inadequate “a big disappointment”, said MEP Peter Liese. “The goal of offering people in Germany and Europe a vaccination offer by the end of the summer is still realistic.” This is due to the positive developments at BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson. Additional information is interesting in Peter Liese’s statement: CureVac CEO Franz-Werner Haas had already promised him in December that his company would work with other manufacturers, “if your vaccine doesn’t work”. With today’s publication of this conversation note, the pressure on the Tübingen-based company and its partner Bayer should now have increased rapidly to cooperate quickly with successful competitors from Mainz and to convert their own capacities to the production of BioNTech.

Did the state lose money promoting CureVac?

“The federal government is participating in this promising company because it expects it to accelerate developments and to enable CureVac financially to exploit the potential of its technology.” Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier said that almost exactly a year ago. The federal government then invested 300 million euros in the Tübingen-based company. In addition, there was the Federal Ministry of Research, which made a commitment for funding of 251.6 million euros.

All in all, a good half a billion euros. So is the money gone now? The answer: only in part. On the one hand, the federal government received a share in the company for its investment. And although CureVac’s price has slumped by more than half today, the value of that portion is still likely to be significantly higher than when the company went public. And on the other hand, of the promised 251.6 million, only 102.8 million euros have actually flowed so far, as the Ministry of Research tagesschau.de confirmed today. The rest will probably be withheld as the payout “depending on the progress of the project” is. Regardless of the possible “Losses” The question arises, however, what would have happened if the federal government had not invested a cent in promising companies such as CureVac or BioNTech. An outcry would probably have gone through the republic, even though an alleged takeover offer by ex-US President Donald Trump turned out to be a hoax. The situation in the crisis year 2020 was dramatic, according to SPD health expert Lauterbach. “It was an extremely noble attempt by our German companies to develop a new type of Covid vaccine and make it available to the whole world. The investments were right, although in the case of CureVac there was no success.”

CureVac vaccine not very effective Crash of a Bearer of hope

Status: 06/17/2021 12:31 p.m.

CureVac’s vaccine proves far less effective than hoped, with the biotech company’s stock plummeting. What does this mean for the vaccination campaign and German taxpayers?

From Angela Göpfert, tagesschau.de

For the company CureVac and its owners, dramatic scenes have taken place in the past few hours. The price of the Tübingen-based company listed on the US technology exchange Nasdaq had already halved in after-hours trading on the US stock exchange on Wednesday. This morning, the CureVac share then rushed in German retail by up to 52.4 percent.

Eight billion euros destroyed on the stock exchange

This destroyed around eight billion euros in market value within a few minutes. This melted down from over 15 to a good seven billion euros. The drastic course reaction shows how surprisingly, despite all previous doubts, such devastating study data as CureVac has now presented, came in the end – and how serious the consequences could be.

On Wednesday night, CureVac announced that its first-generation vaccine candidate was CVnCoV only an effectiveness of 47 percent against a Covid 19 disease of any severity. The company thus missed the intended statistical success criteria for approval.

Completely out of the vaccination campaign?

The study is to be continued, and the degree of effectiveness could change with higher case numbers. However, if the current trend continues, approval is unlikely. In this case, experts say CVnCoV would be a total flop for the company. For the German vaccination campaign, CureVac is therefore canceled until further notice. “According to these study results, it will be extremely difficult for CureVac to play a role at all in the current vaccination campaign”, told LBBW analyst Timo Kürschner tagesschau.de . According to the federal government, the setback for the Tübingen company does not upset the vaccinations in Germany. “This announcement has no effect on the speed of our vaccination campaign”said a spokesman for the federal health ministry.

Other manufacturers are still catching up

Industry observers believe that speed is just as important in vaccine development as it is in drug development. “Late bloomers like CureVac only have a chance if they have a better effect profile or fewer side effects”, explains pharmaceutical expert Kürschner.

“The more time that elapses, the more efficient the production of vaccines that have already been approved will be”says the pharmaceutical expert. “BioNTech & Co. are then more and more able to serve the required delivery quantities.” His conclusion: “We could get to a point where you actually no longer need the CureVac vaccine because the vaccination campaign is already so advanced.”

Hundreds of millions from the federal government

The severe setback for CureVac meanwhile has effects beyond the current vaccination campaign. It meets the German taxpayers – after all, the federal government has a stake of around 16 percent in the company and has supported vaccine development with a special program worth several hundred million euros. It is also a debacle for SAP co-founder Dietmar Hopp, who holds almost 50 percent of the shares.

Last but not least, the CureVac price disaster hits the countless private investors who have invested their money in the share. The paper of the company, which is legally based in the Netherlands, has been one of the most traded foreign stocks in the past few weeks on the Stuttgart Stock Exchange, where many private investors cavort.

Recently increased warning signs

Recently, there had been more and more indications that the CureVac vaccine could fail for the time being. Even when Health Minister Jens Spahn, according to media reports, deleted CureVac from the federal government’s planning for the current vaccination campaign, this could hardly affect the share.

The high market capitalization compared to rival companies was also a warning sign: Before the current price crash, CureVac had a higher market value than Novavax. The US manufacturer had already reported a Phase III study on Monday, according to which its vaccine had a has a high effectiveness of 90 percent .

Often high risk in the industry

For CureVac and its owners this is now the “Worst case” of a biotech company. At the same time, the CureVac case also shows the general risks facing the industry. Companies in this industry usually have very few active ingredients in their pipeline. If one then fails – for whatever reason – it often has fatal consequences for the entire company.

LBBW expert Kürschner also sees CureVac “a prime example of the risks involved in investing in biotech companies”. However, Kürschner does not fear negative consequences of the CureVac events for the German biotech industry. After all, there is a positive counterexample in the country. “I’m sure: BioNTech’s success story will outshine the rather negative course at CureVac.”

Corona vaccine CVnCoV Bad Intermediate result for CureVac

As of: 06/17/2021 6:42 a.m.

Setback for CureVac: The corona vaccine CVnCoV only showed an effectiveness of 47 percent in the second interim analysis, said the Tübingen-based company. The study is to be continued. CureVac’s corona vaccine candidate CVnCoV missed the statistical targets in a second interim analysis. The Tübingen-based company announced this in a mandatory notification. There it says: “In a previously unprecedented environment with at least 13 variants within the subset of study participants examined in this interim analysis, CVnCoV achieved a preliminary effectiveness of 47 percent against COVID-19 disease of any severity and thus did not meet the specified statistical success criteria.” Initial analyzes have shown that the effectiveness depends on the age group examined and the virus strains, the company continues. The vaccine candidate is in the final stage of clinical development. CEO Franz-Werner Haas announced that one had hoped for stronger results in the interim analysis. But continue the current study until the final analysis.

Actually soon approval is planned

Until the beginning of June it had been said that the company expected – depending on the clinical trial data – the approval of its vaccine candidate in the EU at least for the second quarter. But shortly afterwards it became known that the proceedings would be further delayed.

CureVac, which works with Bayer, had long been considered one of the hopes in the competitive race for approval of the first corona vaccines. But while vaccines have been administered by numerous competitors worldwide for months, the Tübingen-based company is still collecting data – and recently had repeatedly put off shareholders and observers.

The U.S. Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago issued a statement on its official Twitter on the evening of the 13th local time, saying, “The U.S. government has donated 80 bottles of Pfizer’s new crown vaccine to the government of Trinidad and Tobago. The U.S. is committed to Help the Trinidad and Tobago government to carry out vaccination work.” According to previous reports in the US media, a bottle of Pfizer’s new crown vaccine contains 5 or 6 doses of vaccine. In other words, 80 vials of vaccine are only equivalent to more than 400 doses of vaccine. According to the one-person two-dose vaccination process, only enough to vaccinate more than 200 people. Perhaps the U.S. Embassy itself realized the ridiculousness of “80 bottles”, and deliberately added at the end of the statement, “We believe that every dose of vaccine is important.”

This donation statement was quickly spread on Twitter and received a lot of criticism and ridicule comments. Netizens from various countries were surprised that the US embassy announced the number of “80 bottles” of donations.

@Snigdha100%vaxxed#GetYoVax: 80 bottles? How many people can this bring continuous protection? Because it seems to me nothing to show off.

@Got My Moderna Workin”: For a country with more than 1 million people, 80 doses (bottles) are an insult.

@funkdrugmokey: They (the US government) must open a box of vaccines, count 80 bottles (or 115 bottles) from it, and then put the other vaccines back into the cold storage. incredible.

@Mohammad: This statement has almost as many words as the number of vaccines to be donated.

@MaryAnn Johanson: This is a shameful and meaningless gesture. You (the United States) should keep it secret, not hype.

Some comments also questioned that the United States had previously announced the distribution of 80 million doses of the new crown vaccine to the world by the end of June, and US President Biden just announced that it would donate 500 million doses of vaccines. Are these vaccines just verbal, in reality? Is it only 80 bottles? According to the local media Trinidad Daily Express, the country’s Minister of National Security Hinders explained that the 80 vials of vaccines announced by the United States have nothing to do with “any large-scale donations that we anticipate that the United States is considering”. Vaccines are “just a small batch of gifts received by the Ministry of National Security.”

While the message was almost overwhelmingly criticizing the U.S. government, some Trinidad and Tobago netizens were also sharing another piece of news: The first batch of 200,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine purchased by the country will be delivered on the 14th local time and will arrive in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago.

On the 13th local time, Chinese Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago Fang Qiu announced the above news on his official Twitter and Facebook. “I am very happy to announce this latest development. The 200,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine purchased by the Trinidad and Tobago government are on their way to Port of Spain! I am very happy to be invited to welcome the second batch of Sinopharm vaccine at the airport tomorrow!” Local media also reported that the government of Trinidad and Tobago has also ordered more new crown vaccines from China, which will be delivered in the future.

Below this news, many Trinidad and Tobago netizens expressed their thanks.

@Dina GoonLun: I am very happy to learn that the (China) vaccine is already on the way. Very grateful. Time is of the essence. There is a real friendship between China and Trinidad and Tobago. Thank you, Mr. Ambassador.

@Ricardo Paul: Well done, Mr. Ambassador.

@Barry Kanchan: We are very grateful. Please send in as many vaccines as possible.

According to the news published on the official website of the Chinese Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago, on May 19, a batch of China’s aid to Trinidad and Tobago arrived in Port of Spain. Many local people referred to the Chinese vaccine as “timely rain”. According to media reports, this is the largest vaccine aid that Triumph has received so far. According to the “Global Times” reporter, this batch of Sinopharm vaccines will be launched in Trinidad and Tobago nationwide on May 21. Many local government officials and parliamentarians have all been vaccinated against Sinopharm. The country’s Senator Laurel Resama shared the process of vaccination in China via Twitter. “It only takes 15 seconds! The whole process went smoothly and well organized.”

Trinidad and Tobago media reports on Sinopharm vaccination status

The comparison between 80 bottles in the United States and hundreds of thousands of doses in China has already been seen by Trinidad and Tobago people, but Shanter Moore, the US Chargé d’affaires in Trinidad and Tobago, was still in an interview with local media recently. Selectively ignore the facts, while publicizing the promise of the United States to donate vaccines, while facing China’s slander.

Ambassador Fang Qiu commented on the interview on Twitter, saying, “This article is full of irony, and one can’t help asking, how many vaccines have they (the United States) delivered?” “Actions speak louder than words.” Ambassador Fang Qiu wrote.

Many countries have applied vaccine passports to track citizens’ Covid-19 vaccination history, making it convenient for them to enter and exit. According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), applying vaccination certification is an important tool to respond to the pandemic and restart safe international travel. Belize : Travelers who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 can now visit Belize without quarantine. Vaccine passports must be valid for at least 2 weeks prior to entry. In addition, travelers can also present a negative test for Covid-19 within 96 hours before entry (48 hours with the rapid test). Each rapid test on arrival at the airport costs about 1.1 million VND. Visitors come Ecuador , including the Galápagos Islands, are allowed entry if they carry a complete certificate of vaccination. Persons aged 2 years and older who do not have a vaccine passport must have a Covid-19 negative test certificate, confirmed within 3 days before arriving in this South American country. A negative test for Covid-19 must be taken within 96 hours before visiting the Galápagos Islands. Mandatory quarantine in Estonian will be exempted for guests who have been vaccinated. Visitors will be required to provide vaccination records including manufacturer information and vaccine batch number in English, Russian or Estonian languages. Those who have tested negative for Covid-19 within 6 months before entry are also not required to go through quarantine. Republic of Cyprus : From May 10, vaccinated travelers from 65 countries, including the US and UK, will not need to go through quarantine nor test for Covid-19 in this island nation. Visitors need to upload their vaccination certificate to the country’s system before entering the country. Georgia : International visitors can enter the country by air if they can prove they have been vaccinated against Covid-19. The country is still banning entry via land and water. There are separate entry rules for unvaccinated travelers based on their address. Georgia requires all travelers who have traveled through the UK 2 weeks before entry to undergo a 12-day quarantine. Greek now open to vaccinated travelers from EU member states. In addition, some travelers with vaccine passports from the UK, USA, Serbia, Israel, UAE, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, are also allowed to enter. These travelers do not need to be quarantined or tested for Covid-19. Land, air and sea transportation of Guatemala Open traffic to stimulate international tourism. Visitors can visit the country if they have a negative test for Covid-19. In addition, visitors are also allowed to enter the country if they have a valid vaccination certificate at least 2 weeks before the trip. Iceland: According to the Icelandic government, from June 1, less stringent border quarantine measures will be applied to citizens of countries identified as low-risk areas. Visitors will skip the tests if they present an approved, digital or paper vaccination certificate in English, Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish. Iceland is the first country in the EU/Schengen region to allow entry to vaccinated passengers from anywhere in the world. Poland quarantine is not required for people coming from countries in the Schengen area, having negative results for Covid-19 within 48 hours before entry. Citizens of countries outside this area are required to quarantine. Romania loosened quarantine requirements for travelers who have been vaccinated since January 18. However, American tourists are not allowed to enter this European country. Citizens in the group of countries allowed to enter Romania will be exempted from isolation and testing within 10 days after receiving the last dose of the vaccine. According to Lonely Planet

Do not prolong social distancing on a large scale Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Duong Anh Duc said that currently, 7 enterprises (enterprises) in industrial parks (IZs) in the city have Covid-19 cases. Most of the places only have 1-2 cases, with no signs of spreading to other places. In which, 2 enterprises have similar characteristics (seafood processing, workers work together in a cold and closed environment) so the number of cases is larger with 6 and 11 cases… People’s Committees of wards and districts Districts with cases have suspended non-urgent services, stopped accepting in-person applications, only accepting online applications. Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son, Head of the Special Department of the Ministry of Health in Ho Chi Minh City, said the city will set up about 100 delegations to inspect all factories and enterprises operating in the industrial park. Large factories and enterprises need to have a plan to arrange for the core workers to live in the industrial park or have a closed process from accommodation, dormitories, transportation to the factory to work, live and take them to work. about. Ho Chi Minh City has prepared a treatment plan for 5,000 patients, but must be ready with equipment to treat patients on ventilators who have severe symptoms. Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son inspects the preservation of 836,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine at the Pasteur Institute’s cold storage in Ho Chi Minh City on the afternoon of June 17 Photo: HAI YEN After receiving 836,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, Mr. Duong Anh Duc said that Ho Chi Minh City had a meeting to plan to identify priority subjects and injection plans; strive to inject for 200,000 people/day, expected from June 19; at the same time, increasing testing capacity to 30,000 samples/day. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam emphasized that Ho Chi Minh City is a big city; The government and people have gone through the practical process of fighting the epidemic. Therefore, decisions on social distancing, isolation and blockade must be in the spirit of trying to be as concise as possible. The purpose of social distancing is to slow down the spread of the epidemic, identify outbreaks, sources of infection, and scale in order to narrowly, tightly, and strive not to prolong the extension. society on a large scale. The Deputy Prime Minister asked Ho Chi Minh City to “keep the balance” of the IP with strong measures. Ho Chi Minh City needs to strengthen testing and warning to quickly detect infections in the first 3 days, with lessons learned in fighting epidemics like in Bac Giang and Bac Ninh. The Deputy Prime Minister noted that although Ho Chi Minh City’s testing capacity is very good compared to other localities, with a population of 10 million and many industrial zones, the city must have a plan to increase testing capacity in the event of an outbreak. in the industrial park. In particular, the coordination of testing must ensure consistency among participating units, meeting the sampling and tracing speed to catch up with the epidemic’s spread. Absolutely do not let the test situation be delayed or mistaken due to the coordination as happened in some places. If infection is detected in factories and enterprises in industrial zones, Ho Chi Minh City should pay close attention to the densely packed worker accommodation areas when zoning, isolation and blockade are implemented. The Deputy Prime Minister requested that in the coming time, Ho Chi Minh City urgently needs to complete the pilot guidance on isolating F1 cases at home, ensuring strict safety in terms of health as well as people’s privacy, in accordance with the law. conditions of the city in the case of a large number of infected people. Mobilization of many vaccination forces At the inspection of the preservation of 836,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine that has just been transported to the cold storage of the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City on the afternoon of the same day, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son said that in the next 2 days, Ho Chi Minh City will open 1,000 Covid-19 vaccination points for people. “Distributed by the Government and the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Immunization, in this batch, Vietnam imported 966,300 doses of vaccine for the whole country, of which 836,000 doses were transported to Ho Chi Minh City” – Deputy Minister Nguyen Truong Son said. The Ministry of Health has completed the script and in the next 2 days will finalize the script to discuss with the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City and the City Steering Committee to be ready to deploy at vaccination points. This vaccination campaign will take place in about 5-7 days. “To carry out this vaccination campaign, we not only mobilize the medical force in Ho Chi Minh City, but we also mobilize the forces at the central level, ministries and branches in the city. A number of military hospitals and hospitals Police force institutes, military preventive medicine institutes will also participate in this campaign,” said Deputy Minister Nguyen Truong Son. With the principle and spirit of quick vaccination in the campaign but still must ensure absolute safety for those who participate in vaccination, Deputy Minister Nguyen Truong Son said that the vaccine injected in this batch is AstraZeneca’s, the deadline The use is still relatively long, ensuring the safety of the vaccination campaign of Ho Chi Minh City. “Hopefully in the next round, the provinces that are facing great difficulties during this epidemic such as Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Binh Duong, Tien Giang … will receive the vaccine to give priority to the whole production force which is workers. to ensure safety in production” – Deputy Minister of Health expressed. Overseas Vietnamese support the Vaccine Fund On the afternoon of June 17, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son awarded more than 6.2 billion VND as contributions from the overseas Vietnamese community, the Lao National Assembly Office and officials, civil servants and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Diplomacy for the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, supporting the Covid-19 Vaccine Fund and the fight against Covid-19 in localities. In addition to the above amount, in the past few days, the Vietnamese community with nearly 30 organizations and groups in the US, Canada, France… has launched the campaign “Join hands for Vietnam” and “10,000 doses of vaccines”. please for Vietnam”, soon move back to the country to support people, especially doctors – nurses and those who are working on the front lines, to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic. D.Chau Another 515 cases of Covid-19, Ho Chi Minh City alone has 137 cases The Ministry of Health said that on June 17, Vietnam recorded an additional 515 cases of Covid-19, including 12 isolated cases immediately after entry and 503 domestic cases in Bac Giang (327), Ho Chi Minh City (137), and Tien Giang. Giang (13), Bac Ninh (12), Binh Duong (7), Ha Tinh (4), Lang Son (2), Nghe An (1). This is the day Vietnam has recorded the highest number of cases since the outbreak. Notably, the number of new cases in Ho Chi Minh City and Bac Giang continuously increased rapidly. Since the outbreak appeared, our country has recorded 12,150 cases of Covid-19, of which 10,483 are domestic cases and 1,667 imported cases. On June 17, 63 more Covid-19 patients were announced to be cured, bringing the number of cured cases to 4,653. The number of deaths is now 61.

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, center, is extradited to the US in 2017. Photo: AP Insider reports that the Mexican government has just announced that it will hold a “super lottery” on September 15 with 22 prizes with a total value of up to 12.5 million USD, including foreclosed villas. revenue from the two drug lords mentioned above. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the proceeds from the lottery program will be used to buy COVID-19 vaccines, medicines and award some scholarships. According to Indep, the villa of Carrillo Fuentes – leader of the Juarez drug cartel – located in the Jardines del Pedregal area near the capital Mexico City is valued at nearly $ 4 million. Foreclosed on more than 20 years ago, the property measures nearly 10,000 square feet and has an indoor swimming pool, nine bedrooms, several saunas, a wine cellar and a banquet hall. According to Indep, the mansion of the late boss Fuentes is still fully furnished. Meanwhile, the mansion of the “dwarf” Joaqín Guzmán, who was once in charge of the notorious Sinaloa cartel, is located in the city of Culiacán, capital of the state of Sinaloa on the West Coast of Mexico. This is where Guzmán escaped from the police in February 2014 by running through a secret tunnel hidden under the bathtub. Joaqín Guzmán’s house has two bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a garage and a front garden. It is valued at $200,000, which is quite a bit higher than the real estate market in Sinaloa. In the previous sale of Indep, no one bought the two houses mentioned above. Estadio Azteca Stadium. Photo: Reuters This COVID-19 vaccine fundraiser also includes a luxury football room at the Estadio Azteca stadium in the capital. This room can accommodate 20 people, one bathroom and four parking spaces. In 1986, this is where then President Miguel de la Madrid presented the World Cup trophy to Diego Maradona. This room is valued at 1 million USD, valid until 2065. In 2019, Mexico once put up six other Guzmán homes for sale, but only three were sold for a total of $227,844. One of them is the steel-reinforced house where Guzmán took refuge after his first escape in 2001. The Mexican government once held a similar lottery in September 2020 with the top prize being the presidential jet. However, there were no buyers for this $130 million Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The luxury houses of drug lords Joaqín Guzmán is one of the most prominent drug lords in Mexico. He was extradited in 2017 and convicted by a US federal court in 2019 on 10 counts. Guzmán is serving a life sentence in a super-security prison in the US. In 2009, Forbes magazine ranked Guzmán at number 701 on its list of the world’s billionaires, with a net worth of $1 billion. In the city of Culiacan alone, Guzmán owns six houses. Most of them are real estate for the middle class and have in common that there is an underground passage under the bathtub for him to escape. A Mexican soldier inspects the tunnel connecting Guzmán’s home bath to the city’s sewer system in Culiacan. Photo: Reuters “El Chapo” is also the owner of an apartment on the most famous beach in Sinaloa. He also built a picturesque farmhouse for his mother, Consuelo Loera, in the town of Badiraguato in the mountains of Sinaloa. This farmhouse has four bedrooms, a large kitchen and a small chapel in the back. After a revenge attack between rival gangs in 2016, Ms. Loera left this abandoned ranch. The name Carrillo Fuentes is also known as “The Lord of the Sky” because of the way he used planes to smuggle tons of drugs into the US territory. He died in 1997 while undergoing facial transformation surgery.

Many of Carrillo Fuentes’ assets suffered the same fate as Guzmán’s today. Fuentes’ more luxurious residences – including a 2,000-square-foot apartment and 6,000-acre ranch – are located in Argentina, where he lived for a year before his death. In 2018, Argentina sold three of his properties for a total of $14 million. He still has several other properties in Mexico, including an Arab-style mansion in Hermosillo and a luxury mansion in the state of Jalisco.

South Africa throws away 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine due to contamination incident. Photo: Reuters According to RT (Russia) news agency (Russia), the South African Health Products Administration (SAHPRA) has decided not to deploy vaccination for 2 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine being stored at a facility in the city of Gqeberha. , as the raw materials for their production were affected by a contamination incident at the factory in Baltimore (USA). The decision comes after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that millions of doses of vaccine produced at Johnson & Johnson’s Emergent BioSolutions facility in the US city of Baltimore were not suitable for use in the United States. use. “Based on what has been announced by the FDA, batches of vaccines being stored in our Gqeberha have been affected. The batches of these vaccines correspond to about 2 million doses,” South Africa’s Acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said on June 13. These doses of the vaccine have not and will not be used to immunize South Africans, she added. SAHPRA chief executive, Dr Boitumelo Semete, also confirmed the batch of vaccines “cannot be widely distributed.” Meanwhile, South Africa’s health watchdog said in a statement that a new batch of about 300,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine has been approved by the FDA and will be shipped to South Africa at a later date. some point. The agency did not disclose the exact date the shipments arrived. However, Mr. Semete acknowledged that the problem with Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine had a significant negative impact on South Africa’s vaccine deployment strategy. As of June 13, South Africa, the country hardest hit by the COVID-19 epidemic in Africa, has recorded about 1.7 million cases of COVID-19 and over 57,000 deaths. However, the country with a population of about 58.5 million people has only injected 183,000 doses of the vaccine to its people, as of June 9, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). South Africa is also one of the countries that is campaigning to give up patents for a COVID-19 vaccine to allow all countries to produce generic versions at low cost. “If we want to save lives and end the pandemic, we need to expand and diversify our production, put medical products into treatment, and fight and stop the pandemic for as many people as possible,” the president said. South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa speaks at a meeting with G7 countries in the UK on June 13.

Volunteers injecting experimental vaccine Covivac. Photo: General Writing Domestic vaccines can reach 20-30 million doses/year According to the Ministry of Health, so far, the country has two manufacturers researching and developing vaccines against Covid-19.
The Nanocovax vaccine of the Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company has been approved for a phase 3 clinical trial (TNLS). In the past few days, the Military Medical Academy has administered experimental injections to volunteers aged 18.
According to the research outline, phase 3 will test on about 13,000 volunteers in many provinces and cities such as Hanoi, Hung Yen, Long An, Tien Giang, etc. In the North, the Military Medical Academy will act as the focal point for deployment. at Military Medical Hospital 103 and Hung Yen province’s preventive health center deployed locally. The southern area will be professionally handled by the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, in collaboration with the preventive health centers of Long An and Tien Giang provinces.
At the Military Medical Academy, there are currently more than 6,000 volunteers registered to participate in the trial, of which more than 600 people have been screened and are eligible to participate. In the immediate future, in the first phase of the TNLS phase 3, the Military Medical Academy will test 1,000 people. According to the Military Medical Academy, before that, in stages 1 and 2 of the Nano Covax vaccine trial, 100% of people who injected immunity were protected against the attack of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
In the phase 3 trial, the Nano Covax vaccine was administered to volunteers from 18 years of age, and there was no maximum age limit for the trial participants. Currently, the oldest person to register for TNLS injection phase 3 is 83 years old. Nano Covax vaccine will also be administered to volunteers with chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes (stable disease, do not inject during acute phase) to evaluate the results of immunogenicity. fluid, post-injection reaction… The results of the phase 3 clinical trial are the basis for the Ministry of Health to grant emergency permits and widely inject people to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic, which is expected in the fourth quarter of this year. Earlier, during a working visit to the Military Medical Academy, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue asked the Military Medical Academy to continue to closely coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to urgently accelerate the implementation of clinical trials. Preparing phase 3 of Nanocovax vaccine, striving for early results to have a preventive vaccine for the community. However, when manufacturing, vaccines must ensure superiority in antibody generation time, with the shortest number of days; minimize side effects to a minimum, especially for people with weak health and underlying diseases; at the same time, must be able to resist and destroy future mutations. In addition, the COVIVAC vaccine of the Nha Trang Institute of Vaccines and Biologicals, is currently in the first phase of the TNLS and is about to be transferred to the second phase of research in Thai Binh.
According to the Ministry of Health, the COVIVAC vaccine is expected to produce about 6 million doses per year and can increase capacity when invested. Meanwhile, with the Nanocovax vaccine, which is expected to produce about 20-30 million doses per year, Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company can increase its capacity when invested.
A vaccine is coming soon that only requires one dose
Information from the Department of Science and Technology (Ministry of Health), a Vietnamese enterprise has discussed and negotiated with the US manufacturer on conditions for transferring technology to produce Covid-19 vaccine from mRNA essence. It is known that this vaccine only needs to be injected with a single dose of 5 mg, has high protection (based on the results of TNLS phase 1, 2), has a storage temperature of 20 – 80 degrees Celsius, currently the vaccine has been tested. end of trial phase 1, 2).
The first factory following the manufacturer’s technology standards will increase the capacity of 100-200 million doses/year, and is expected to start production from the end of 2021 or the first quarter of 2022. In addition, the No. 1 Vaccine and Biological Products Company Limited (VABIOTECH) is also negotiating with a Japanese partner to receive the transfer of vaccine production technology to Vietnam. In addition, VABIOTECH signed an agreement with the Direct Investment Fund of the Russian Federation on the closure of Sputnik-V Covid-19 vaccine tubes from semi-finished products with a scale of 5 million doses/month starting from July 2021. , towards transferring production technology with the scale of 100 million doses/year.
According to Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, vaccines are an important weapon to bring life back to normal. Therefore, the Politburo has a policy on import, research, production and technology transfer for vaccines. Along with creating maximum conditions and quickly solving procedures for businesses and localities to import vaccines, Vietnam also promotes research and domestic production of vaccines. Vietnam is one of the first four countries in the world to isolate the SARS-CoV-2 virus, paving the way for research and production of vaccines, and many positive prospects for people to soon receive domestic vaccines. In addition, the Ministry of Health has worked with many foreign partners, negotiated to buy vaccine copyrights, transfer technology so that Vietnam can get the vaccine as soon as possible and be independent in the source of vaccines used in the country.
Recently, the Ministry of Health has negotiated with Johnson & Johnson Corporation with the hope that this unit will transfer technology to set up a vaccine factory in Vietnam. According to Minister Nguyen Thanh Long, many large corporations in Vietnam want to participate in the global vaccine supply chain. Vietnam is also one of more than 40 countries that can produce vaccines for the vaccination needs of the people, so the vaccine production experience of Vietnamese factories is guaranteed. Vietnam’s national vaccine management system (NRA) has also been certified as meeting standards by the World Health Organization (WHO). Johnson & Johnson’s side commits that after working with the Ministry of Health, it will make efforts to implement solutions to speed up the supply process through the COVAX mechanism, so that Vietnam can have Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine as soon as possible. However, Minister Nguyen Thanh Long also said that, to ensure vaccine security, one of the very important issues is to ensure a sustainable financial source for vaccines. Therefore, the Minister wishes that the community, authorities and businesses continue to support the Vaccine Fund. Vietnam has self-produced many vaccines and put them into the expanded vaccination program, contributing to the eradication and repelling of many dangerous diseases. This is the premise for the successful production of a Covid-19 vaccine. In fact, the research and production of vaccines against Covid-19 faces many difficulties and challenges, but this is the inevitable path we must go if we want to actively supply vaccines to serve the people. Over the past time, the Ministry of Health and State management agencies have created all conditions for administrative procedures for units to conduct vaccine production in the most favorable way. We can fully expect a “made in Vietnam” vaccine because at the moment, everything is going well.

Senior Advisor of the Center for Emergency Response to Public Health Events, Assoc. Tran Dac Phu The success of a vaccine depends not only on the manufacturer, researcher, and manager, but also on the social community. Therefore, we call for the cooperation of society, all people with the health sector to have a clinical trial research program, first of all, to be safe and effective to have a product soon. vaccines produced by Vietnam for the community.

Deputy Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Investment (Ministry of Health), Dr. Nguyen Ngo Quang

Chairman of the Corporation Chamnan Srisawat told the page ttgasia : “The current wave of Covid-19 infections may affect the final decision. But when we have been suffering from a pandemic for 15 months now, only mass tourism can save us.” Officials in Phuket have placed tight restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and are speeding up vaccinations to achieve herd immunity by the end of next month. Phuket is now close to the goal of vaccination against Covid-19 for 70% of its residents so that it can open its doors to foreign tourists. Locals say they are ready to welcome tourists on July 1 as planned. In 2019, Thailand welcomed nearly 40 million visitors, generating about $60 billion in revenue. Photo: livingnomads.com The tourist island of Phuket is expected to reopen and welcome international visitors from July. Thus, Phuket will be the first locality of Thailand to reopen, followed by 10 other destinations in October. Under this plan, travelers in low-risk countries who are fully vaccinated will be allowed to fly directly to Phuket without the need for a 14-day quarantine. It is forecasted that in 2021, Phuket will only welcome about 500,000 visitors, much less than the 6.7 million arrivals in the first months of 2020. Before the Covid-19 epidemic, 2019, Thailand welcomed nearly 40 million. visitors, generating about 60 billion USD in revenue. Currently in Phuket there are about 70,000 accommodation rooms. Mr. Chamnan Srisawat expects about 1 million room nights sold in July, bringing in about 40 billion baht ($1.28 billion) to the hotel and service industry. Mr. Chamnan Srisawat added: “In preparation for the reopening of Phuket, we have discussed with major suppliers and travel agents. They are all ready to help.” Phuket is an attractive destination of the Thai tourism industry. Photo: The Thaiger TCT’s proposal has been submitted to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Ministry of Tourism & Sports of Thailand, then submitted to the Government of this country for approval in June. If the campaign is “one USD, one night” As a result of Phuket’s success, the Thai government and private sector could expand the program to other destinations such as Koh Samui, Pattaya and Bangkok.

Corona vaccine study Novavax is 90 percent effective

Status: 14.06.2021 2:21 p.m. According to preliminary study data, the corona vaccine from the US pharmaceutical manufacturer Novavax is safe and highly effective – even with virus variants. The product raises great hopes, especially in developing countries. According to the US pharmaceutical company, the Novavax corona vaccine protects well against the virus and its variants. The company said that the vaccine was around 90 percent effective and, according to preliminary data from a study, safe. The vaccine effectiveness study involved nearly 30,000 people in the United States and Mexico. Two-thirds of them received two doses of the vaccine three weeks apart, all others received placebos. A total of 77 people were infected with the coronavirus, 14 of them in the group of those who were vaccinated. Of the participants who received the drug, none developed severe or moderate symptoms, while there were 14 in the comparison group without vaccination.

background 06/14/2021

No cases of blood clots or heart problems

The vaccine was similarly effective against several variants of the coronavirus, including the alpha variant first discovered in the UK, as well as in high-risk groups such as the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions. The side effects were similar to those of other vaccines and mainly concerned pain at the injection site. There have been no reports of blood clots or heart problems, said Novavax boss Stanley Erck. Novavax plans to publish the results in a medical journal where they will be reviewed by independent experts.

Vaccine important for developing countries

The company said that applications for approval would be submitted in the USA and Europe, among others, by the end of September. Until then, a production of 100 million cans per month is possible. Novavax’s vaccine is easy to transport and store, which is why it is expected to play an important role in vaccination campaigns in developing countries. “Many of our first doses will go to low- and middle-income countries, and that was the goal from the start,” said Erck. Novavax’s vaccine works in a similar way to flu vaccines. It is made with laboratory-grown copies of the spike protein that envelops the coronavirus. The immune system reacts to the proteins in the vaccine and is thus prepared when it is actually confronted with the virus. Other vaccines that are widely used today contain the genetic instructions for the body to make its own spike protein.

02.03.2021

Deliveries to companies Farms are waiting for more vaccine

Status: 14.06.2021 12:44 p.m.

Company doctors have been able to vaccinate their employees for a week. But the amount of vaccine allocated is nowhere near sufficient. In the second week, fewer vaccine doses are delivered than in the first. From Jens Eberl, WDR BMW has big plans. The automobile manufacturer has set up a total of 29 vaccination lines at its locations in Germany. In Munich alone there are six vaccination lines at two locations. The company said it could do up to 2,500 vaccinations a day. This means that the entire workforce in Germany can be vaccinated within a few weeks. The problem: there isn’t enough vaccine. A little more than 5000 employees were vaccinated in the first week. The situation is similar with the consumer goods manufacturer Henkel. A vaccination center was set up in a company building in the immediate vicinity of the factory premises in Düsseldorf. Up to 1500 employees per week can be vaccinated. In the first week, however, there were only 640.

Fewer vaccine doses in the second week

“Many companies have prepared themselves really well,” says Wolfgang Panter, President of the Association of German Company and Company Doctors (VDBW). “6300 company doctors are available nationwide and have ordered vaccines.” But it is only arriving slowly. The distribution is based on the number of company doctors in the company. Last week there were 102 doses per doctor. This week it should be 84. “Originally, 804 cans per head were planned, but it was clear that this would never be the case,” said Panter. The company doctors are now relying heavily on July. Here one reckons that the vaccination turbo will be switched on. Be prepared.

FAQ 06/08/2021

High demand from the staff

At Thyssenkrupp, vaccinations are carried out every five minutes at the Essen site, on four vaccination lines, with seven doctors from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Should more vaccine be delivered, vaccinations can also be carried out in the evening and on weekends and a 5th vaccination line can also be used. 50,000 people work at Currenta, which manages and operates one of the largest chemical sites. They had ordered 20,000 doses here; if these had arrived, the vaccination would be finished in two to three weeks. But only 3000 came. According to the company, the vaccination lines of Deutsche Telekom have a capacity of up to 10,000 vaccinations per week. Telekom has 89,000 employees in Germany. Due to the approval of priority group 3 by the federal states, vaccinations had already been carried out in the company. The company expects up to 30,000 employees to take advantage of the opportunity to be vaccinated by company doctors. Telekom has set up 18 vaccination lines nationwide for this purpose.

06/02/2021

IT facilitates rapid processes

Many companies have also adapted their IT to vaccinate. For example, BASF has developed its own online booking system together with an IT service provider. Employees can use this to register. The navigation along the entire Impfstraße is completely digitized from check-in to check-out. The vaccination center went into operation on April 14th. Up to and including Friday, around 16,000 BASF employees had received an initial vaccination. Initially, the vaccination sequence prescribed by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate was followed and priority groups II and III were vaccinated. Since June 7, all BASF employees at the Ludwigshafen site have been able to register for a vaccination appointment. At the Vonovia real estate group, a random generator determines who receives a vaccination offer for which location based on the activity performed. First, the random number generator selects employees with direct customer contact.

Prioritization canceled in many places

In the meantime, many companies have completely removed the prioritization. The Deutsche Post says that there is no longer any personal prioritization in the sequence of vaccinations. “Through the choice of location and the allocation of appointments, we ensure that employees in the operational area have at least equal access to operational vaccination appointments,” says the company. At RWE, employees have been able to make appointments using an online tool or by telephone since last Monday. RWE does not plan to prioritize vaccinations. The President of the Association of German Company and Company Doctors has established that every company has a different approach to prioritization. From his point of view, employees who are exposed to a higher risk should still be given preference, for example field staff or fitters; People who have a lot of contacts. Of course, you can’t dictate that, says Panter.

Corona vaccine Which slows down vaccine production

Status: 14.06.2021 8:11 a.m. Corona vaccine is still scarce in Germany. The production of the vaccine has been running at full speed for months. What makes it so difficult to manufacture quickly in large quantities? From David Zajonz, WDR In theory, anyone in Germany has been allowed to be vaccinated for a week if they want to. In practice, more precisely in the doctor’s office, many people who want to be vaccinated receive the same information over and over again: “We would like to vaccinate you, but unfortunately we do not have enough vaccine.” In vaccination centers in North Rhine-Westphalia, there are currently no initial vaccinations at all due to supply bottlenecks. Almost six months after the start of the corona vaccination campaign in Germany, vaccines are still in short supply. The frustration of many people who have not yet received a vaccination is correspondingly great.

Previous production “absolutely sensational”

Nevertheless, the speed of vaccine production is enormous, believes Rolf Hömke from the Association of Research-Based Drug Manufacturers (vfa). It normally takes several years to produce a new vaccine on a large scale: “Judging by all the experience of previous vaccine projects, it is absolutely sensational how quickly the additional production was built up,” says Hömke. To clarify, he cites two figures: Before Corona, according to the World Health Organization, a good five billion vaccine doses were produced worldwide every year – against tetanus, measles and many other diseases. On the other hand, more than two billion vaccine doses had been administered in the fight against Corona by early June. According to current company information, more than 700 million vaccine doses of BioNTech / Pfizer’s most frequently used vaccine in Germany alone have been produced and shipped worldwide – up to three billion by the end of the year.

There is a lack of personnel and materials

There are several reasons why vaccine production is not progressing any faster. The production is complex, says Udo Reichl, an expert in the production of vector vaccines at the University of Magdeburg. “Vector vaccines are produced in bioreactors,” he explains. “Building a new production facility with bioreactors can take one to two years.” Therefore, production cannot be ramped up at will. Manufacturers also struggle to find qualified personnel. In addition, there is a lack of materials that are needed for production, according to vfa spokesman Hömke. “For example, there is a lack of spare parts for the production systems, sterile plastic covers and special chemicals.” Lipids, i.e. fats that are needed for mRNA vaccines, are particularly popular, says Hömke. “A large manufacturer of lipids for vaccines told us that at the beginning of 2020 they expected a few kilos of these lipids to be in demand. Now they can sell a few tons of them.”

background 05/26/2021

Pharmaceutical companies work together

In order to be able to produce faster, the pharmaceutical companies enter into an unusually large number of partnerships. A prominent example is the collaboration between the small Mainz research company BioNTech and the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. The French manufacturer Sanofi, on the other hand, whose own vaccine project has stalled, plans to soon produce BioNTech / Pfizer’s vaccine in its Frankfurt plant. Another example: BioNTech has taken over its plant in Marburg from the Swiss pharmaceutical manufacturer Novartis – including its employees. It takes a long time to build new systems, explains vaccine expert Reichl. Conversely, converting existing production facilities is much easier.

March 31, 2021

Worry about poorer countries

The joint efforts of the pharmaceutical companies mean that the vaccine shortage in this country should soon be over: “In Europe we will see a gradual relaxation in the supply of vaccines over the summer,” believes Reichl. However, he worries about the supply of poorer countries. “A large part of the world population still has hardly any access to vaccines. If we need further vaccines in Europe to vaccinate against new mutations, these in turn will not be available for other countries.” So it could happen that Europeans and North Americans will be vaccinated three or four times while people in other parts of the world are still waiting for their first shot. It is therefore all the more important, according to Reichl, to set up further vaccine productions in poorer countries.

interview 04/26/2021

People get vaccinated against COVID-19. Photo: AFP/VNA In Singapore, technology has really been “powering” to increase the efficiency of vaccine use. Behind every immunization center in Singapore is a vast virtual infrastructure that can capture and categorize each COVID-19 vaccine shot to make the vaccination campaign as effective as possible. Singapore has built integrated solutions to collect and handle data disparities. The system is also flexible to adapt to new cases should Singapore change its COVID-19 vaccination strategy. One of the solutions that Singapore is applying is the development of error detection software. These software can detect errors when people misrepresent personal information during vaccination scheduling before this information is entered into the database and need human correction. Since Singapore launched its COVID-19 vaccination program at an early stage in January, the Integrated Health Information System of Singapore (IHiS) has processed between 4,000 and 5,000 vaccination data per day. . At that time, there were about 200 false declarations every day and all of these errors had to be corrected manually. However, thanks to the software’s continuous improvement, now the number of cases to be corrected is reduced to just 20 per day, while IHiS’s system processes up to 50,000 records per day. In Denmark, technology is used to attract and encourage people to get vaccinated. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark are testing a game with virtual reality technology to educate people about the benefits of vaccination. Users will wear virtual reality glasses, playing the role of an elderly person trying to walk through a crowded square. In this game, the people in the red shirt are infected with COVID-19, while the blue shirts are people who have been vaccinated. Professor Robert Bohm of the University of Copenhagen said that after players experience the virtual reality game for themselves, their intention to vaccinate will be even more motivated. In the United States, several cities and counties in the country, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New Orleans and Newark, are using advanced psychoanalytic technology to help build and expand vaccination programs. These cities have partnered with the company Zencity and the Ash Center of Harvard University’s Kennedy School to study people’s psychology when vaccinating. Through this program, US localities will use Zencity’s tools to collect and analyze citizen feedback from available sources, such as social media posts, online channels, and online channels. local news site. The tool then uses artificial intelligence (AI) to classify and sort the data based on topics, trends, anomalies, and people’s perceptions. Cities will receive a report from Zencity, which includes different demographics about vaccines as well as public sentiment towards the vaccination program. In addition, the report also displays misinformation that may need to be addressed and recommendations on how to communicate the vaccine. This tool is highly appreciated by cities in the US. Deana Gamble, head of communications for the city of Philadelphia, said that thanks to the app, the city government understands that it needs to provide accurate and up-to-date information to those who are still uncertain about the benefits of using the app. vaccinations and how to administer them. Not only does it help speed up vaccination progress, but technology also makes access to a COVID-19 vaccine more equitable for many groups. In Italy, the Lombardy regional government has approved the application of an algorithm developed by scientists to decide who should be given priority to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. A team of scientists from the University of Bicocca in the city of Milan has developed an algorithm that aims to end the controversy over which groups should be given priority to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The researchers divided the patients worst affected by COVID-19 into groups based on age, epidemiological history and many other factors. In addition, a team of experts from the University of Bicocca has also identified 34 conditions and diseases that may increase the risk of contracting COVID-19, including diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, anemia and other diseases. blood cancer. “We believe that by vaccinating those most at risk, we can avoid hundreds of intubation and deaths in Lombardy and beyond,” said Professor Giovanni Corrao of the University of Bicocca. all of Italy”. Currently, the Italian Ministry of Health is also considering recommendations for the use of this technology nationwide. If vaccines are considered a powerful weapon for humans against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the above specific examples show that technology, in many different forms, can increase the strength and effectiveness of the virus. this weapon, thereby helping people soon “reach the target” of herd immunity.

According to Lieutenant Colonel, Associate Professor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chu Van Men, Director of the Center for Clinical Trials and Bioequivalence, Military Medical Academy, phase 3 injected the Nano Covax vaccine to 13,000 people and administered only a single dose group injection. at least 25 mcg and the placebo injection group. Specifically, according to the protocol approved by the Ministry of Health, the first 1,000 trial injectors of the first phase of phase 3, the volunteers are injected with the ratio of “6 people vaccinated, 1 person injected placebo”. The remaining 12,000 people injected according to the ratio “2 people vaccinated, 1 person injected placebo”. It is expected that the first phase of phase 3 will be conducted by the Military Medical Academy and the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City with 1,000 volunteers, each with 500 people. Vietnam’s first COVID-19 vaccine tested in phase 3 on humans. Regarding the reason for choosing the dose group of 25 mcg, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chu Van Men said that testing at 3 dose levels of 25-50-75 mcg showed that the vaccine was safe on volunteers, capable of generating immunity in 3 doses. There was no difference in dose groups. Therefore, the National Ethical Council in Biomedical Research, Ministry of Health decided to only inject 1 optimal dose of 25 mcg at this stage. Phase 3 is implemented in many centers in the country: The North is deployed by the Military Medical Academy as the focal point at Military Medical Hospital 103, in collaboration with the Preventive Medicine Center of Hung Yen province to deploy locally; In the South, the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute is the focal point to deploy, in collaboration with the Preventive Medicine Centers of Long An and Tien Giang provinces to deploy locally. After the phase 1 and phase 2 trials, the Nano Covax vaccine is judged to be quite safe, so the criteria for recruiting volunteers will be relaxed more than the previous two phases. 13,000 volunteers participating in phase 3, aged 18-75 years old, only need to check their blood count and check for antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. People who have been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus or already have antibodies will be excluded from the test population. As of June 11, more than 6,500 volunteers have registered to test the Nano Covax vaccine against COVID-19 phase 3. Senior Colonel, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ho Anh Son, Deputy Director of the Military Medical and Pharmaceutical Research Institute, Military Medical Academy added: “It is expected that by mid-September 2021, after about 42 days of the second injection. In two of the first 1,000 experimental injections, we will summarize the results of the quality assessment to report. If it is favorable, we will submit the dossier and propose the Government, the Ministry of Health, and the National Ethical Council in the study. In parallel with that process, the unit will continue to test the Nano Covax vaccine on 12,000 volunteers to continue to control the experimental injection and evaluate the effectiveness. protective power of vaccines”. During the testing process and after the antibody sample is available, the Military Medical Academy will coordinate with the Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company, the testing units to conduct the assessment of the ability to neutralize the SARS-CoV virus. -2 in the laboratory for existing virus strains to determine the development direction of vaccine research in the coming period. Through discussions with the expert group of Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Joint Stock Company, in addition to recombinant protein technology, there are other technologies for research and production of vaccines. Nanogen as well as many Vietnamese scientists are very interested in mRNA technology – which has been of great interest to the world in recent years. This technology has the advantage of reacting very quickly to the disease, quickly getting a vaccine. According to available information, vaccines produced by this technology are very safe for human use. More information about the phase 3 trial, Lieutenant General, Prof. Dr. Do Quyet, Director of the Military Medical Academy, said that this trial phase is designed according to the adaptive design method, continuing to inject the experimental vaccine. trial and placebo group; health assessment at the time of the first injection, the second dose (done on the 28th day), the 35th day and the 42nd day after injection. The Director of the Military Medical Academy expressed confidence in the safety of the Nano Covax vaccine with the results achieved through the previous two testing phases. Specifically, the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 virus antibodies after the phase 2 trial injection showed that the antibody titre increased very high, from tens to hundreds of times. After the second injection, the volunteers had a physical examination (blood test, blood pressure measurement…) once a week to assess the amount of antibodies appearing in the body; then continue to be monitored for 6 months to get information, assess health as well as immunity ability. Up to now, 100% of volunteers who have been vaccinated with Nano Covax vaccine have produced antibodies in the blood. – Phase I (December 2020), the COVID-19 vaccine Nano Covax was administered to 60 volunteers. – Phase II (February 2021) injected over 554 people. From phase 2, the trial was conducted both at the Military Medical Academy and the Medical Center of Ben Luc district – Long An province (by the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City).

Illustration. At the meeting of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 prevention and control on the afternoon of June 11, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan informed that the Ministry of Health had officially approved the phase 3 clinical trial of the vaccine. Vietnam’s first COVID-19 room named Nano Covax. According to Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan, the Ministry of Health has just approved the phase 3 clinical trial of Nano Covax vaccine of Nanogen Company. According to Lieutenant Colonel, Assoc. Dr. Chu Van Men – Director of the Center for Clinical Trials and Bioequivalence, Military Medical Academy, Ministry of National Defense, phase 3 injected the Nano Covax vaccine to 13,000 people and injected only a single dose group. 25 mcg and placebo injection group (with a ratio of “6 people vaccinated to 1 person injecting placebo” according to the design approved by the Ministry of Health). As for the reason for choosing the 25 mcg dose group, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chu Van Men said that when the phase 2 trial showed that, the 3 dose levels of 25-50-75 mcg had equivalent safety and immunogenicity. undifferentiated. Therefore, in order to ensure the safety and increase the effectiveness of the number of doses of vaccine production, the National Ethical Council in Biomedical Research, the Ministry of Health decided to inject only 1 optimal dose of 25 mcg at the initial stage. this. Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long and Minister of National Defense Phan Van Giang asked and encouraged volunteers to test the vaccine against COVID-19 Nano Covax. Photo: PV. On June 11, the Military Medical Academy said that this unit has started to deploy the phase 3 trial injection of the COVID-19 Nano Covax vaccine for the first 19 volunteers. On the day of injection for 200 people, divided into 2 groups. Accordingly, one group injected the Nano Covax vaccine with a dose of 25mcg, the other group injected a placebo with aluminum excipients. Military medical students will inject 1,000 volunteers in the first time. According to the research outline, phase 3 will test on about 13,000 volunteers in many provinces such as Hanoi, Hung Yen, Long An, Tien Giang… At the Military Medical Academy, there are currently more than 7,000 volunteers registered to participate in the trial, of which more than 600 people have been screened and are eligible to participate. Besides, IVAC’s Covivac vaccine is also preparing to complete phase 1 trial and enter phase 2 in July 2021. Regarding the subjects of vaccination, according to Deputy Minister Tran Van Thuan, in addition to the priority subjects for COVID-19 vaccination under Resolution 21, the Ministry of Health has added workers in industrial zones and will propose more subjects working in establishments dealing in essential goods.

Thanh Nhan Hospital deploys AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for medical staff. Accordingly, this number of vaccines is distributed by the Hanoi Department of Health to districts, towns. Districts, towns and cities have prepared to deploy the third phase of Covid-19 vaccination according to the plan of the Ministry of Health and the guidance of the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. It is expected that the vaccination against Covid-19 in this batch will end in July 2021. The Covid-19 vaccine in the 3rd and 4th waves will focus on giving the first dose to priority subjects in the spirit of Resolution 21/NQ-CP of the Government, that is, people working in medical facilities. health (medical staff working at domestic and non-public health facilities have not been vaccinated); participants in epidemic prevention and control; staff directly participating in service at concentrated isolation areas; members of the City’s Steering Committee for Epidemic Prevention and Control, the Health Sector Steering Committee for Epidemic Prevention and Control, the Steering Committees at all levels and branches; Community Covid-19 Team members have not been vaccinated… In addition, those who have received the 1st dose will be given the 2nd dose after being given the next round of vaccines (batches 5 and 6). Priority subjects received 1 dose of vaccine and the interval between 2 injections was at least 8 weeks. Tran Thi Nhi Ha, Director of the Hanoi Department of Health, said that Hanoi puts vaccination safety first. Districts, towns need to proactively arrange safe vaccination points and strengthen inspection and supervision of vaccination points, ensuring full compliance with the vaccination process as prescribed by the Ministry of Health. Previously, Hanoi deployed the first phase of Covid-19 vaccination for more than 8,400 people and the second phase for more than 53,000 people. Step 1: Visit https://www.bluezone.gov.vn or download directly at App Store or CH Play. Step 2: Once downloaded, the application will ask for permission to use Bluetooth to record contact with other Bluezone installed users. If Bluetooth is not open, drag the status bar and turn on Bluetooth; or go to Settings, select Bluetooth and turn it on. Step 3: Once the installation is done, click Scan Around. If someone near you less than 2m has used Bluezone, the application will automatically identify these users and put them in the contact list.

Corona pandemic Pfizer trials vaccine on young children

As of: June 9th, 2021 8:38 pm

BioNTech and Pfizer also want their vaccine approved for children under 12 years of age. The first studies on this have already started. The product will soon also be tested on babies. From Antje Passenheim, ARD Studio New York BioNTech and the pharmaceutical company Pfizer are advancing the development of their Covid-19 vaccine for use in younger children. As Pfizer announced in New York, the group has expanded its clinical study to children under twelve years of age.

Admission already in October?

In the first tests, a small number of minors were given different doses of the vaccine. According to Pfizer, around 4,500 children between the ages of six months and eleven will now take part in studies in more than 90 facilities in the United States, Finland, Poland and Spain. Tests on five to eleven year olds began this week. They receive either a placebo or two doses of ten micrograms each. This corresponds to a third of the dose that adolescents and adults receive. Pfizer expects to get US approval for five- to eleven-year-olds by October. In a few weeks, children aged six months and over will be brought in for a study. These should only receive three micrograms per vaccination. A short time later, the group wants to apply for approval for children up to five years of age.

Severe disease courses in children are rare

Pfizer sells the serum developed by BioNTech, a Mainz-based company. Since children are generally less likely to get seriously ill with Covid compared to adults, the group relies on a lower dose vaccination for younger children, which should also have fewer side effects. In the European Union, the USA and Canada, the vaccine is already approved for children from the age of twelve and is sometimes used. In the United States, nearly seven million teenagers have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to health officials.

All of these vaccines are allocated to priority subjects according to Resolution 21 and localities with industrial parks. Vaccines for COVID-19. Photo: Times of India. In addition, from now until the end of the third quarter, Vietnam will also receive an additional 2 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine ordered by the Ministry of Health through VNVC. In the third quarter, information from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer said that 3 million doses of vaccine can be shipped to Vietnam, the rest will be concentrated in the fourth quarter. However, the specific time and quantity may change due to dependents. of the world situation. According to Professor Dang Duc Anh, the COVID-19 vaccine has a very short shelf life, only about 6 months. Meanwhile, the time from the production facility to Vietnam takes about 2 months, so it only takes 3-4 months to deploy the injection. In particular, Pfizer’s vaccines must be stored at deep minus temperatures (-70 degrees Celsius). If the temperature is 2-8 degrees Celsius, this vaccine is only used for one month. Therefore, in the coming time, the Ministry of Health will coordinate with units of the Ministry of National Defense across the country to ensure the preservation and transportation of vaccines to the injection point in the shortest time. Up to this point, Vietnam has urgently approved four COVID-19 vaccines: AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, Sinopharm and Pfizer. Vietnam aims to have 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine this year for at least 70-80% of the population, to form herd immunity. However, only 4 batches of AstraZeneca’s vaccine have arrived in Vietnam with a total of nearly 2.9 million doses. Earlier, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long stated that Vietnam is facing the 4th wave of COVID-19 epidemic with the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 capable of spreading quickly and widely. The Vietnamese government is drastically directing epidemic prevention and control measures to soon stabilize the situation. One of Vietnam’s priorities in COVID-19 prevention is to have a COVID-19 vaccine early and to implement broader vaccination coverage for the population. Therefore, in parallel with efforts to find, negotiate and discuss with partners and vaccine manufacturers to bring vaccines to Vietnam, the Ministry of Health and related ministries and branches also focus on developing domestic vaccines to gradually ensure vaccine autonomy. At the same time, Vietnam also participates in COVAX’s global vaccine supply mechanism.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue visits the vaccine research and production laboratory of the Military Medical Academy – Photo: Thanh Chung A representative of the Military Medical Academy said that it has successfully researched and manufactured a test kit to detect the new strain of corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) by real-time RT-PCR method, used at more than 100 facilities. healthcare throughout the country and exported to 18 countries around the world. Continuing to research and successfully manufacture Amphabio PCR test kits with the ability to test quickly and in large quantities at the same time, which is currently being used effectively in Bac Giang province. Notably, the Academy has been trusted by the Ministry of Health to carry out phase 1 and 2 clinical trials for the Nano Covax vaccine against Covid-19 (from December 2020) and both are generating antibodies. It is expected that from June 2021, there will be a phase 3 clinical trial, deploying over 13,000 volunteers 18 years of age or older. In addition, the Academy has mobilized staff to support the prevention and control of Covid-19 in Quang Nam, Bac Giang, Bac Ninh and Laos. National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue visited and worked at the Military Medical Academy – Photo: Thanh Chung Speaking at the meeting, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue highly appreciated the efforts and achievements that the Military Medical Academy has achieved during 72 years of construction and growth, which has received the most noble achievements of the Party. , state and military. In particular, in the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic, the Military Medical Academy is one of the active, active and effective participating units. National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said that in the current period, the task of effective disease prevention is the focus in the implementation of “dual duty”, so vaccines are an important “weapon”, strategic, decisive issues to end and conquer disease. “The XIII Congress of the Party has set a key task of focusing on controlling the Covid-19 pandemic, mass vaccination of the community with Covid-19 vaccine. Therefore, the Military Medical Academy closely coordinates with other agencies. Relevant ministries and sectors urgently speed up the phase 3 clinical trial of the Nano Covax vaccine against Covid-19, striving for early results to have a preventive vaccine for the community” – National Assembly Chairman assigned. The National Assembly Chairman also suggested that the Military Medical Academy should identify challenges such as, there are many domestic and foreign facilities focusing on research and production of vaccines. Mr. Vuong Dinh Hue analyzed that if there is no superior vaccine in terms of quality, price and supply quantity, it will fall into an opportunity trap. A number of vaccine products have been born and put into circulation in countries, along with rigorous testing by the health systems of countries, approved by WHO. However, there is currently a vaccine that has shown its effectiveness compared to the new variant; There are scenarios of monopolistic production, imposing price and quantity, but also opportunities for technology transfer in the direction of humane sharing. “So, the Military Medical Academy to research and produce vaccines, it is necessary to have the shortest time of antibodies, the shortest number of days, the better. The side effects must be minimized, especially for people with underlying diseases. and weak health. Having the ability to resist and adapt to new variants of the virus,” suggested the National Assembly Chairman. At the meeting, the Military Medical Academy proposed to allow the Academy to organize the implementation of the project “Research and Development Center for Human Infectious Diseases” which was approved by the Prime Minister at the government office. Document No. 164 dated December 31, 2020 of the Government Office, which is expected to have a number of functions and tasks such as research on pathogens, development and production of biological products for detection, diagnosis and treatment of diseases. treating infectious diseases, especially dangerous and extremely dangerous diseases, contributing to protecting the health of soldiers and people, especially in emergency and disaster situations. Researching foundational technologies in development, technology transfer and production of vaccines against infectious diseases, especially dangerous and dangerous infectious diseases. Agreeing with the proposal of the Military Medical Academy, National Assembly Chairwoman Vuong Dinh Hue suggested, the Academy needs a state-level scientific research program and emergency approval to research and test. production of vaccines for human infectious diseases. The Ministry of National Defense shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with relevant agencies in, facilitating and directing the Military Medical Academy to accelerate the implementation of the project “Research and development center for human infectious diseases vaccines” under the theme of: Government policy. Also this afternoon, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue visited the vaccine research and production laboratory at the Military Medicine Research Center building, under the Military Medical Academy. The National Assembly Chairman graciously encouraged the forces directly involved in research, production and volunteers to test the Covid-19 vaccine.

Because of the more frequent mutations of the new coronavirus recently, “is the vaccine still effective?” has become a concern for everyone. If you want to add annual keywords to the new crown virus, then “mutation” is probably not inferior to “popularity.” “Preliminary research results show that my country’s existing vaccines can cope with the variant strains emerging in India.” Shao Yiming, a researcher at the China Centers for Disease Control and a member of the Vaccine R&D Team of the Scientific Research Group, said in an interview a few days ago that the domestic new crown vaccine still has a protective effect. . How can the domestic new crown vaccine be able to deal with the variant strains emerging in India? A reporter from Science and Technology Daily interviewed industry experts on this matter. The virus has changed Can the antibodies raised by the vaccine not drop? Today, when the antibodies in our body encounter the new coronavirus, it is very likely that we will whisper the phrase “you have changed.” In fact, it is difficult to stay the same, because it travels the world and meets different people and even animals. In the latest “Epidemiology Weekly Report” released by the World Health Organization on May 18, 10 variants were “named”, including 4 “needs of concern” that were first discovered in the UK, South Africa, Brazil, and India. The mutated strains also include 6 strains that “need attention” found in the Philippines, France and other places (slightly lower than the strains of concern). The report specifies the location of the virus mutation sequence change in detail. When the virus changes, can the antibodies raised by the vaccine fail to drop? Not necessarily, it depends on where the virus has changed. Most of the mutations of the concerned strains and the concerned strains fall on the key spike protein, which is responsible for allowing the virus to invade the cell. Its mutation may enhance the virus’s infectivity and may also invalidate existing vaccines, especially for the spike protein. Designed vaccine. “Relevant departments have previously shown based on sequence mutation predictions that although the mutation of the Indian strain falls on the spike protein, it may have little impact on the protective effect of the existing vaccine. Of course, this needs further experimental confirmation.” Said Lu Shan, project commissioner and deputy director of the Public Health and Modern Medicine Division of China Biotechnology Development Center, Ministry of Science and Technology. Changes in viral RNA sequence must pass at least three passes to affect the formation of a protein structure, including changes in coding amino acids, changes in protein folding, and changes in protein three-dimensional conformation. Therefore, from the perspective of sequence analysis, protein simulation, neutralization reaction prediction, etc., the mutation of the Indian strain has not reached the level of “cannot be reduced”. In addition, for the mutant strains that emerged in India, relevant departments are also conducting “practical drills” on them with neutralizing antibodies. Previously, similar studies were conducted on the mutant strains discovered for the first time in South Africa. “The Lancet-Microbe” published the results of two Chinese vaccines on April 13th. The 24 serum samples of vaccine subjects were tested for the neutralization activity of live virus, and wild-type virus strain HB02 and the virus strain BJ01 carrying the D614G mutation were used as controls. The results showed that the neutralization ability of the vaccine evoked antibodies was maintained at a percentage. It’s about sixty or seventy. Multi-party attention and continuous tracking of virus changes Shao Yiming said at the meeting that relevant departments and companies are closely following the mutation of the new crown virus. Once there are variant strains that cannot be dealt with by existing vaccines, we will have new vaccines into use. So, what does close tracking mean? If a new vaccine is needed, how quickly can it be developed? “Vaccine research and development teams continue to pay attention to virus mutations and carry out research and development of new vaccines based on virus mutations.” Lu Shan introduced, for example, the Academy of Military Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and related companies have gradually carried out. “The eighth edition of the prevention and control plan requires genetic sequencing of all imported cases and the first or early cases in the local epidemic.” Wu Liangyou, deputy director of the National Health Commission’s Disease Control Bureau, said at a press conference earlier that through gene sequencing dynamics Monitoring virus mutations can provide a scientific basis for subsequent studies on the impact of virus mutations on pathogen detection and vaccine protection. Source: Visual China These sequence information will be aggregated to the National Bioinformation Center (National Genome Science Data Center), the new coronavirus information database released by the center, which will continue to track virus mutations. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and other units continue to track the sequence changes of the new coronavirus and conduct in-depth virus mutation analysis. In addition to continuous gene sequencing and analysis for continuous tracking, vaccine research and development companies and research institutes will also conduct dynamic cross-protection experiments on newly emerging mutant strains. The above-mentioned “Lancet-Microorganism” published research is one of the typical studies of various units concerned about the strength of vaccines and viruses. For newly mutated strains, inactivated vaccines have a very quick way to deal with them. Shao Yiming introduced that as long as the virus of the new mutant strain is added to the feeding end, the entire production process does not need to be changed, and a new vaccine against the mutation can be produced. A reporter from Science and Technology Daily also contacted relevant units. In response, Dr. Hangwen Li, the founder of Sri Lanka Microbiology, said that the iterative vaccine development for mutant strains was carried out earlier. The serum produced in animal experiments can be tested by relevant national institutions to have a good neutralizing effect on the new coronavirus mutant strains of concern to the World Health Organization. At present, the iterative vaccine is improving related research applications to carry out a phase 1 clinical trial. Academician Zhong Nanshan judged in an interview not long ago: Due to the mutation of the virus, the new crown vaccine may be given regularly in the future like influenza prevention. So in response to mutations, the new crown vaccine may also be similar to the flu vaccine. After continuous research and development by the R&D team, several vaccines against variant strains of the new coronavirus have been produced, and the corresponding vaccines have been vaccinated. Source: Science and Technology Daily

At the Fosun Pharma’s shareholders’ meeting held last week, Fosun Pharma stated thatBioNTechThe co-developed new crown mRNA vaccine Fubitai is still waiting for approval. At present, the approval process for pharmacy is basically completed, and the approval requirements and materials to be carried out in the follow-up have basically been sorted out.

Fosun Pharma: mRNA Covid-19vaccineAwaiting approval, the localized production line will be completed in August

Wu Yifang, Chairman of Fosun Pharma, revealed that “mRNA is a brand-new technical route. Under approval,countryThe Food and Drug Administration has some groundbreaking things to do, and we conducted in-depth exchanges throughout the process.countryThe Food and Drug Administration has given a lot of guidance and feedback is very fast. “It is understood that the matters required for the pharmacy-related conditional approval have been basically completed, and the subsequent conditional research and clinical requirements to be carried out are basically clear.

At the general meeting of shareholders, Fosun Pharma revealed thatBioNTechTechnology transfer and equipment ordering are already underway.BioNTechDispatchedexpertI have gone to the Jinshan plant in Shanghai to work with the Fosun Pharma team. Both parties have a daily meeting on various professional working groups. The localized production line is expected to be completed in August,beginnormal production.

Source: Network

Some people in the industry have put forward a point of view that Fosun Pharma and Germany’sBioNTechIt belongs to the joint venture agency model, and its essence is to exchange technology for the market.

As early as May 9, Fosun Pharma issued a major announcement stating that its holding subsidiary Fosun PharmaBioNTechInvest in the establishment of a joint venture company to realize the new mRNA crownvaccineLocalized production and commercialization of products.

At the beginning of last year, the two parties signed a license agreement, agreed to pay a license fee and pay a sales commission based on a certain percentage of the product’s annual gross profit.forGuaranteeChinese market mRNA Covid-19vaccineSupply, Fosun Pharmaceutical Industry andBioNTechSigned the “License Agreement Amendment One” on December 15, 2020, to promote mRNA COVID-19 in stages such as the import of finished products, the import of large-package preparations in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), and localized production.vaccineChina sales and supply reached an agreement.In order to further implement the relevant mRNA new crown in the “License Agreement Amendment One”vaccineArrangements for localized production, both partiesup to dateThe announcement announced the signing of the “Terms”, the establishment of a joint venture company, and an agreement that Fosun Pharmaceutical Industry should provide an annual production capacity of up to 1 billion doses of mRNA.vaccineProduction facilities and injected the facility as part of the capital contribution into the joint venture company.

onvaccineFor subsequent commercialization issues, the two parties agreed that the joint venture company will hire an affiliate of Fosun Pharmaceutical Industry as the CSO to provide mRNA new crowns in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan)vaccineMarket and sales services, and pay corresponding fees to the CSO in accordance with the contract.

Subsequently, at the beginning of 2021, the BNT162b2 vaccine (Fobitai) was approved for emergency use in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macau Special Administrative Region respectively, and was used in the vaccination programs of the above-mentioned two regional governments in March.

According to CCTV News, as of June 14th, 31 provinces, municipalities (including the Corps) across the country had cumulatively reported vaccination against the new crownvaccineThe number of doses exceeded 900 million, even if Fosun Pharma’svaccineWhen approved, how much market will be left to it is a question of great concern to many investors.

There are barriers to the production technology of mRNA vaccines entering the sprint stage

At present, the domestic competition for the approval and listing of mRNA vaccines has entered a fierce stage.In addition to Fosun Pharma, the mRNA vaccines that Abbio is responsible for research and development, and Watson Bio is responsible for the production and promotion of mRNA vaccines are the current domesticthe firstA mRNA vaccine that has entered clinical phase III. On May 11, the Mexican Foreign Minister announced that the mRNA new crown vaccine developed by a Chinese companyARCoVWill start in Mexico on the 30th of this monthIIIPhase trial, it is estimated that 6000 volunteers will participate, thisvaccineIt is the joint research and development of the Military Academy of Sciences, Aibo Biology, Watson Biology, and the three parties.

Different from the cooperation model of Fosun Pharma, the research and development of Aibo Biological and Watson BiologicalARCoVThe vaccine has independent intellectual property rights, and itscoreThe raw materials and key equipment have been made domestically. In December 2020, Watson builds China’s first mRNA new crownvaccineProduction workshop,ARCoVThe vaccine is expected to be completed and put into production within 8 months, with a production capacity of 120 million doses per year in the first phase.

It has always been a concern in the industry that the domestically produced mRNA vaccines of Watson Biologics and Fosun Pharma will be the first to cross the line in China.Former Shanghai Center for Disease ControlvaccineExpert Tao Lina believes that Fubitai is an imported product after all. If it is successfully approved for listing in the future, it is most likely to be listed conditionally.He told Ao Yi News reporter that, in comparison, the local company Watson Biotech may have an advantage in production. “After all, it is our local Chinese company, and Fosun andBioNTechBecause of the cooperation model, it may be slower in production. ”

Regarding the localized production of Fubitai, Fosun Pharma stated that the company hasBioNTechTechnology transfer and equipment ordering are already underway.BioNTechDispatchedexpertI have gone to the Jinshan plant in Shanghai to work with the Fosun Pharma team. Both parties have a daily meeting on various professional working groups. Fosun Pharma expects that the joint venture agreement will be implemented in June 2021 and the localized production line will be completed in August.beginnormal production. According to Wu Yifang, in terms of production capacity design, considering that the production line will be transferred to other mRNA vaccines and global demand, production capacity will retain the possibility of growth.

Earlier, Abbio and its partner institutions introduced its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in a paper published in the journal Cell in September 2020.ARCoVProduction process. The paper introduces that the aqueous solution of mRNA and the ethanol solution of lipid molecules are quickly mixed, so that the lipid molecules form LNP that encapsulates the mRNA, and then the ethanol is removed by tangential flow filtration and concentrated to obtain the original solution.

Although the above process seems simple, the founder andchiefIn an interview with the media, executive InBev pointed out that it involved the determination of a large number of process parameters.coreTechnology”. The determination of these parameters fundamentally determines the performance of the product, and only a few companies have it.

Tao Lina introduced to Ao Yi reporters that the two domestically producedvaccineThere are two differences in the technical details: Fubitel uses all the S protein of the virus asvaccineTarget ingredient, WatsonvaccineUse the RBD region on the viral S protein asvaccineTarget component. RBD is the key to the virus being able to attach to human cells. The mutation is not large. If the mutation is large, it may not be able to infect the human body.vaccineIt may be more effective in dealing with virus mutations; in addition, there are other areas on the S protein that can stimulate the body to produce antibodies. These antibodies may not have the effect of neutralizing the virus, and theoretically may also lead to ADEeffect, Which helps the virus infect the human body.So, theoretically, the RBD vaccine may be moreSafetysome.The lipid carrier used in both is LNP, but Fubitai must be cryopreserved, WatsonvaccineIt is announced that it can be stored at 2-8 degrees.

HaitongInternationalAccording to the research report, there are many difficulties in mRNA production. One is that the carrier used is usually nanometer-sized, with a diameter of usually less than 200 nanometers, so the production process is more demanding; in addition, the capping rate will also affect the activity and side effects of the product. However, the preparation process has a great influence on the stability of the product, and how to maintain the purity of the product is also a challenge. “Capping” is the process of modifying mRNA molecules.

“Fragrant Rice Cakes” in the Capital Market: What is the prospect of mRNA?

With the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in 2020, mRNA vaccines became famous in the first battle.

Former Shanghai Center for Disease ControlvaccineExpert Tao Lina told Ao Yi news reporter that in the new crownvaccinePreviously, most of the early work on mRNA vaccines focused onTumoraspect.cancerThe vaccine istreatmentSexual, not preventive, aimed atTumorPreferentially expressed by cellsTumorRelated antigens, therefore, stimulating cell-mediated immune responses can reduceTumorburden.

In this new crown epidemic, the unprecedented cooperation environment and government investment have prompted effective data and large-scale applications tovaccineProvides a conceptualverification.Government support helps manufacturers scale up at risk while gainingthe firstBatch validity data. Two foreign companies that first developed mRNA vaccines——BioNTech(Bintech),Moderna(Modena) Announced separatelyIIIClinical data,ModernaIn the clinical data of (Modena), among 30,000 vaccinators,vaccineThe effective rate is 94.5%, and the critical illness protection is 100%. November 9, 2020BioNTechofIIIPhase clinical data released, mRNA vaccineThe effective rate exceeds 90%.

Tao Lina believes that the mRNA vaccine is effective, and the corresponding vaccinators should also receive a “greater response.” “ThisvaccineTo stimulate antibody immunity and cellular immunity at the same time, and cellular immunity will release a lot of cytokines, leading to adverse reactions in the vaccinated person. “He thinks that because there are other less reactivevaccineFor reference, it is not ruled out that the people will inoculate different types of vaccines according to their own acceptance.vaccine.

Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, there have been many cases of cooperation between domestic pharmaceutical companies and mRNA companies:

On May 20, 2020, CanSino and Precision Canada NanoSystems(PNI) companies jointly developed a technology based on mRNA lipid nanoparticles (mRNA-LNP)vaccine；

On December 7, 2020, Zhifei Biological announced that it plans to subscribe for 10.189% of the shares of Shenxin Biological with its own funds of 35 million yuan to deploy the third-generation mRNA vaccine technology platform.

On May 9, 2021, Fosun Pharma invested 100 million U.S. dollars to cooperate with a German biotech companyBioNTechSet up a joint venture company to realize the new mRNA crownvaccineLocalized production and commercialization.

It can be said that the outbreak of the new crown epidemic has pushed the mRNA pharmaceutical industry to an unprecedented climax, and the domestic mRNA pharmaceutical industry has finally ushered in the spring of development.

Large-scale financing of mRNA technology companies has also received attention. Just at the beginning of June, Si Microbiology announced that it has officially completed a new round of financing of 200 million US dollars, breaking the record of a single financing for domestic mRNA companies.At the “2021 Pujiang Innovation Forum” held recently, Li Hangwen, founder, chairman and CEO of Sri Microbiology, stated that mRNA vaccines should have become the world’s most frequently administered vaccine.vaccine, Both in clinical trial results and in the real world have shown good results, suchvaccineIt can also be adjusted quickly to deal with virus mutations. In addition, unlike many traditionalvaccineCompared with the development route, mRNA vaccines can activate stronger cellular immunity.

Gao Fu, director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, once stated at an industry conference that mRNA technology is effective for infectious diseases,AIDS, Genetic diseases, rare diseases,TumorWill provide various opportunities, hoping to develop classic traditionsvaccineWhen considering the benefits that mRNA vaccines may bring to humans.

Ao Yi News reporter Lin Shiyan

Immunity in a person who has had COVID-19 lasts up to 13 months after infection. A study at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (USA) also emphasizes the effect of vaccination after COVID-19 infection, because some patients under observation have very low antibody levels. In a study by Rockefeller University scientists (USA) who followed 63 people with COVID-19 in the spring of 2020. They found that antibodies are produced by recording B lymphocytes memory becomes more effective in neutralizing SARS-CoV-2. In addition, the researchers also found that “vaccination boosts immunity naturally developed by these people during infection, to the point where they can be protected against new variants appear”. Therefore, once infected with the virus and vaccinated against COVID-19, immunity will be created especially strong. Rosemary ( Femme Actuelle June 2021 )

The South Korean government will come up with a plan to support vaccines for North Korea after comprehensively reviewing the domestic vaccine supply situation and the consensus of the people. Illustration. Earlier, at a press conference on the sidelines of the G7 Summit, South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressed that he will expedite the supply of vaccines to North Korea, emphasizing that South Korea will become a “global vaccine production center”. , contributing to the fight against Covid-19. According to President Moon Jae-in, the Covid-19 vaccine needs to be distributed fairly to low-income countries so that the whole world can escape the Covid-19 pandemic. As South Korea plays the role of a global vaccine production hub, North Korea is of course also subject to cooperation. If North Korea agrees, Seoul will actively promote cooperation in providing vaccines to Pyongyang. President Moon Jae-in said the United States also supports humanitarian assistance to North Korea.

Receiving donations for the Covid-19 Vaccine Fund from the Ministry of Transport. Photo: TIEN DIEP On the morning of June 15, Comrade Do Van Chien, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front received donations for the Covid-19 Vaccine Fund from officials, civil servants and public employees. the Ministry of Transport employees the amount of one billion dong. Giving the donation amount to the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, Mr. Nguyen Van The, Member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Transport shared: “The situation of the Covid-19 epidemic in our country is facing a difficult situation. continued to be complicated and unpredictable. With a sense of responsibility, joining hands with the whole country to “fight the epidemic like fighting the enemy”, officials, civil servants, public employees and workers of the transport sector have actively supported the Vaccine Fund for Covid-19 prevention and control. . Sincerely thanking the cooperation and support of officials, civil servants, public employees and workers in the transport industry, the Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front affirmed that the call of the President Vietnam, the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the enthusiastic speech of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh when demonstrating his determination to widely vaccinate the people have touched the hearts of Vietnamese people inside and outside the country. country so that each person feels responsible for joining hands to support the Party and State in the fight against this epidemic. Comrade Do Van Chien pledged that, from the resources received, the Front will fully gather, publicly, transparently and promptly allocate it to the Vaccine Fund so that Vietnam can soon control the epidemic and its people. soon return to production and business. In the morning of the same day, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Phung Khanh Tai received support for Covid-19 prevention and control from readers of Dai Solidarity Newspaper worth 500 million VND; Charity Association Zen Ton Phat Quang – Dinh Mountain (Ba Ria Vung Tau) donated 150 million VND; The Korean National Unification Advisory Committee – Hanoi branch supports the Covid-19 Vaccine Fund with the amount of VND 50 million; Buddhists and laypeople of Vinh Phuc Tu Pagoda (Huu Bang – Thach That) support the Vaccine Fund 200 million VND; Vietnam Association of Supporting Industries (Vasi) donated 400 million VND to the Vaccine Fund; The Northern Phu My Fertilizer Association donated VND 280 million to the Vaccine Fund. In the afternoon of the same day, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Truong Thi Ngoc Anh received a donation from the People’s Police Academy – Ministry of Public Security in the amount of VND 250 million; Team Saffaron Queen donated 15 million VND; New Wave Solution Joint Stock Company donated 46 million VND to the Vaccine Fund. * On the afternoon of June 15, at the Provincial Department of Health Hue Mr. Nguyen Minh An, Deputy General Director in charge of the Central – Central Highlands region of PVI Insurance Corporation, cum Director of PVI Hue Insurance Company donated a support package of 750 Covid-19 antigen rapid test kits. to the Department of Health of Thua Thien Hue province. Representatives of PVI Insurance Corporation in the central region – Central Highlands and PVI Hue Insurance Company supported the Covid-19 epidemic prevention and control fund. The total equivalent value of the support package is VND 100 million. This is an activity in the program to support the Covid-19 epidemic prevention fund at hospitals and localities under PVI Insurance Corporation. It is expected that PVI Insurance Corporation will continue to donate 200 million VND to the Department of Health of Ho Chi Minh City in the coming days. Following the call of the Prime Minister and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front to build a Vaccine Fund for Covid-19 Prevention and Control to mobilize resources in the society to join hands to fight the Covid-19 epidemic. From the end of May until now, PVI Insurance Corporation has contributed to support and support the epidemic prevention and control activities of Vietnam’s health sector with a total amount of more than two billion dong. In which, PVI has transferred one billion VND to support the Central Fund for Covid-19 Prevention and Control. Next, PVI has supported activities for public hospitals on the front lines of the fight against Covid-19 such as: giving 200 million VND to support the Covid-19 Prevention and Control Fund to Thong Nhat Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City). ); donate 150 million VND to support Hanoi Medical University Hospital; at the same time, giving 200 million VND to support the National Children’s Hospital and 250 million VND to 108 Military Central Hospital.

In this phase 3, Nano Covax vaccine will be tested in multi-centers at domestic facilities with the deployment of vaccination for 13,000 volunteers. Specifically, in the North, experimental injections were carried out at the Military Medical Academy (Hanoi) and in Hung Yen province; The southern area is carried out by the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City, and is planned to be injected in 2 provinces: Long An and Tien Giang. In the immediate future, in phase 3, 1,000 registered volunteers will be tested, and then continue to recruit more. In this phase 3, there is also research and evaluation of the effect of the vaccine against the variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus found for the first time in India. By the end of September 2021, after the phase 3 trial is completed, depending on the test results and epidemic developments, the vaccine will be considered for approval for emergency use on a large scale in our country. Step 1: Visit https://www.bluezone.gov.vn or download directly at App Store or CH Play. Step 2: Once downloaded, the application will ask for permission to use Bluetooth to record contact with other Bluezone installed users. If Bluetooth is not open, drag the status bar and turn on Bluetooth; or go to Settings, select Bluetooth and turn it on. Step 3: Once the installation is done, click Scan Around. If someone near you less than 2m has used Bluezone, the application will automatically identify these users and put them in the contact list.

Thus, for the Covid-19 epidemic from the end of April until now, the total amount that EVN and its member units have contributed and supported for the affected provinces and cities, as well as supported the The health sector’s epidemic prevention and control activities are more than VND 408 billion. Currently, EVN and its units are trying to continue to perform well the “dual duty”, both to prevent and control the Covid-19 epidemic, and to ensure electricity supply for economic development. – society of the country. In addition, from the electricity bill period June to December 2021, EVN will exempt and reduce electricity bills for 2 groups of customers: tourist accommodation establishments and establishments used as isolation places, treating people suspected of being infected with Covid-19. Step 1: Visit https://www.bluezone.gov.vn or download directly at App Store or CH Play. Step 2: Once downloaded, the application will ask for permission to use Bluetooth to record contact with other Bluezone installed users. If Bluetooth is not open, drag the status bar and turn on Bluetooth; or go to Settings, select Bluetooth and turn it on. Step 3: Once the installation is done, click Scan Around. If someone near you less than 2m has used Bluezone, the application will automatically identify these users and put them in the contact list.

Dr. David Muller with the high-density biopatch. Photo: Hung Vu. The technology allows researchers to use a bio-patch containing a dry layer of vaccine and then apply pressure from the injection device to deliver the vaccine into cells below the surface of the skin. Besides not using needles, this technology being tested on mice also has the outstanding advantage that it does not need to be stored in the cold chain. According to Dr David Muller, Australia’s leading virologist who was involved in the development of the new injection method, the Covid-19 vaccine delivered via a high-density biopatch induces a better immune response and faster. This technology has also shown to be more effective against dangerous variants of the current SARS-CoV-2 virus. What is unique about this single-dose vaccine technology, says Dr. Muller, is that it can help accelerate global vaccine coverage efforts, especially in low-income countries and regions of the world. remote areas. Tests to date have shown that when coated on a dry patch, the vaccine remains stable for at least 30 days in an environment of 25 degrees Celsius and 1 week if it is at 40 degrees Celsius. Using this technology, vaccines will not need to be preserved in complicated and expensive cold chains like today. The developers believe that the applicability of the new technology is very promising. In addition, scientists are also looking for funding to be able to conduct clinical trials on humans in the near future.

“I have a strategy and I will publish it.” Biden said when asked about the vaccine strategy for the world before boarding Air Force One to fly to the UK for the G-7 summit. The US will donate 500 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to the world. (Photo: CNN) Sheet The Times said Mr Biden would appear alongside Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla to make the announcement. According to the AP , of these 500 million doses, 200 million doses will be shared this year. The rest will be donated in early 2022. Washington Post was the first newspaper to publish this information. Many newspapers later cited sources confirming the above information. The US is facing increasing pressure to draw up a plan to share vaccines with the world as its vaccine campaign is inching towards the finish line. Last week, the White House announced plans to allocate the first 25 million doses of the vaccine, with 19 million going to COVAX and 6 million to current COVID-19 hotspots including India. These vaccines are among the 80 million doses of vaccines the US has pledged to share with the world this month.

In Vietnam, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested to resolutely and effectively implement the vaccine strategy, which accelerates access to purchase and import of Covid-19 vaccine sources for Vietnam, including through COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Program (COVAX). UNICEF and WHO representatives in Vietnam welcomed the first batch of Covid-19 vaccine including 811,200 doses in COVAX’s commitment to support Vietnam. (Source: UNICEF) From defense to attack According to the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang, following the Prime Minister’s direction with the spirit of “fighting the epidemic like fighting the enemy”, right from the time the Covid-19 epidemic broke out and countries conducted research and production, Successfully testing a vaccine against the disease, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Vietnamese representative agencies abroad have made efforts to find, approach and negotiate with partners to provide vaccines against Covid-19 to soon import vaccines using vaccines. used in the country. In the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, the COVAX mechanism is one of the best solutions to ensure the rapid and equitable deployment of safe and effective vaccines to all countries around the world. COVAX is coordinated by three organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) and the Coalition for Epidemic Response Innovations (CEPI), with distribution partners being United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). With the policy of joining COVAX early, in December 2020, Vietnam submitted a dossier to this mechanism to propose vaccine support. On that basis, COVAX has allocated vaccines and committed to provide Vietnam with a vaccine quantity guaranteed to immunize 20% of the population, equivalent to nearly 39 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine. Up to now, Vietnam has received more than 2.5 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine under the COVAX mechanism. This is part of a total of 4.1 million doses of vaccine, worth up to $17 million, committed to Vietnam by COVAX in the first six months of 2021. The remaining batches will arrive in Vietnam by the end of this year and early 2022. All vaccines are provided free of charge by COVAX through UNICEF. Thus, up to now, this is the largest amount of vaccines Vietnam has received. According to Mr. Do Hung Viet, Director of the Department of International Organizations (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), participating in Vietnam’s COVAX program is about finding “the right person at the right time”. COVAX has promptly provided the first two batches of vaccines so that Vietnam can deploy its vaccination strategy, especially for the frontline forces against the epidemic, contributing to helping us begin to change the state of epidemic prevention from defense to prevention. translation attack. In ASEAN, before Vietnam, two countries have committed to contribute to COVAX: Singapore ($5 million) and the Philippines ($100,000). Spread the spirit of solidarity Up to now, COVAX has received funding from more than 40 countries and partners, mainly from the US, European Union (EU), Japan, Australia, UK… AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine, distributed under the COVAX mechanism, has been vaccinated in Vietnam since early March. For COVAX’s goal of providing 2 billion doses of vaccine to developing countries, middle and low-income countries, the amount of money that COVAX needs to continue to mobilize is still very large. In addition, the global Covid-19 vaccine supply chain is being disrupted and disrupted by the resurgence of the pandemic in many places, especially in India – a large vaccine production “factory”. best of the world. In that context, the COVAX mechanism must be flexible and adjusted to meet more urgent needs in places where the epidemic situation is severe. The supply is low, many places have severe outbreaks of the disease, greatly affecting the vaccine supply schedule of COVAX. As a major beneficiary of the COVAX program, Vietnam is determined to join hands with the international community to respond to the pandemic. This is also the policy that Vietnam is strongly promoting in recent years. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, Vietnam has stepped up to strengthen international cooperation and solidarity to cope with the epidemic, because Vietnam understands that no country will be safe when the world is still not safe. With that policy and spirit, Vietnam has decided to contribute $500,000 to the COVAX initiative. Thus, Vietnam is classified as one of the few developing countries contributing to COVAX. Mr. Do Hung Viet emphasized that the contribution to COVAX demonstrates Vietnam’s sense of responsibility in global efforts, strengthens multilateral cooperation, thereby enhancing Vietnam’s image and position in the eyes of foreign partners. international organizations as well as international friends. As soon as Vietnam announced its contribution to COVAX, many international organizations, including GAVI, UNICEF, WHO… gave thanks and appreciated this decision. “Through this contribution, Vietnam hopes to have a synergistic effect, spreading the spirit of international solidarity so that governments of other countries and other partners can take necessary actions to increase support for the country. COVAX”, shared Mr. Do Hung Viet. The frontline against epidemics abroad The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is tasked by the Government with the Ministry of Health as the main agency in finding and accessing vaccine sources. With a network of more than 90 Vietnamese representative offices abroad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has coordinated to drastically implement this task. Thereby, Vietnam has access to a number of vaccine sources of countries and international organizations to contribute to Vietnam’s vaccination strategy. Currently, on a global scale, vaccines are not only a medical issue but also contain many political factors. The decision of countries to support each other with vaccines depends a lot on bilateral relations in many fields. Therefore, the Vietnamese representative missions abroad and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have conducted hundreds of contacts and mobilized access to vaccine sources in countries and international organizations. This tireless effort has yielded practical results such as the recent commitments to provide Covid-19 vaccines from COVAX and the US, Russia, Japan, China… to Vietnam. UNICEF has also expressed its willingness to support our country in accessing and purchasing a vaccine against Covid-19. As the world’s largest vaccine “buyer” with longstanding relationships with leading pharmaceutical companies, UNICEF has the ability to assist Vietnam in connecting and negotiating contract terms, prices and timeframes. vaccine supply time. Mr. Do Hung Viet said that this is an effective channel to access and buy vaccines that Vietnam needs to take advantage of. In addition to accessing vaccine sources of countries, international organizations, and Vietnamese representative missions abroad, they also make efforts to connect with state and provincial governments in some countries, taking advantage of the relationship. Twinning relationship with localities to mobilize vaccine support. Obviously, dealing with the epidemic requires the cooperation of the whole community. While doctors and medical staff are on the frontline against the epidemic at home, diplomats are also soldiers on the front lines abroad to “fight” to collect vaccine sources to increase vaccination coverage. vaccination for Vietnamese people, contributing to early fight against the pandemic. COVAX’s initial goal is to purchase and mobilize 2 billion doses of vaccine by the end of 2021, enough to protect high-risk, vulnerable people and frontline healthcare workers worldwide, half of which were shipped to 92 low- and middle-income countries to vaccinate about 20% of the population of these countries. However, because the amount of COVAX vaccine received was much short of the set target, by May 24, 2021, COVAX had only distributed 72 million doses of the vaccine to 125 countries and economies.

Indonesian health experts are concerned about the risk of an increase in the number of new cases, due to variants of Covid-19 and a large number of people traveling between many areas after Ramadan. Indonesian health workers vaccinate people. Photo: Reuters In another development, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on June 9 that the government’s goal in July is to reach the milestone of 1 million doses of vaccination per day. “I want the vaccination of the population to reach 700,000 doses a day this month, and continue to increase. By July 2021, we can reach our goal of 1 million doses per day,” he said. US announced to donate 500 million doses of vaccine USA Today news agency today (June 10) said that the administration of US President Joe Biden will announce a plan to donate 500 million doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine to more than 90 countries over the next two years. A senior US official said Biden will announce his plan to donate the vaccines at the G7 summit in the UK this week. The vaccines will be distributed through COVAX, to help deliver them to more low-income countries. Earlier this month, Mr. Biden pledged to share about 7 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Asian countries and territories such as India, Thailand, Laos, Bangladesh and Vietnam. .. Russia strengthens epidemic prevention in the capital The authorities of Moscow, Russia said they will continue to strengthen disease prevention and control such as requiring people to wear medical masks and gloves in public spaces such as restaurants and bars amid the number of infections in the country. This city has recently grown strongly. Channel News Asia quoted data from the Russian Ministry of Health on June 9, saying that in the past 24 hours, the country recorded an additional 10,407 infections. In particular, in Moscow, the authorities have recorded 4,142 new infections, the highest level since mid-January. “The epidemic situation is getting worse in Moscow due to the increasing number of infections,” said official Yevgeny Danchikov. China approves 7th vaccine According to the Global Times on June 9, China approved the 7th Covid-19 vaccine. The vaccine was developed by the Biomedical Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Kunming City, China. Yunnan province, southwestern China. According to China’s Science and Technology Daily, phase 1 and 2 clinical trials have shown that the vaccine is effective, which can quickly induce an immune response in the injected person’s body. On the same day, China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said that more than 808 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine had been distributed across China as of June 8. Some other developments on the epidemic Updated at 5 am on June 10 of the Worldometers statistics page, the Covid-19 epidemic is raging in 220 countries and territories, infecting more than 175.1 million people and claiming the lives of more than 3, 7 million patients. The number of recoveries reached over 158.9 million cases. India continues to experience a terrible day with the number of new infections reaching more than 93,900 and the death toll over 6,100. So far, the country has a total of 29.1 million positive cases and more than 359,000 deaths. Brazil also faces serious contagion and death when it records 84,600 new infections to the list of more than 17.1 million patients, and more than 2,200 victims to a total of 479,500 deaths from Covid-19. Tuan Tran

Standing Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh inspects the disease prevention and control at Kim Garment Organ Co., Ltd in Tan Thuan Export Processing Zone (Ho Chi Minh City). This is the conclusion made after Standing Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh had an inspection of Covid-19 epidemic prevention and control in Ho Chi Minh City and Military Region 7 from May 30 to January 1. 6-2021. The Standing Deputy Prime Minister also directed the Ministry of Health to develop a circular guiding, mechanism and open policy for localities and businesses to find sources to sign contracts to import and transfer technology to produce Covid-19 vaccines. -19. According to the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee in Ho Chi Minh City, as of June 5, the city has received commitments from many individuals, organizations and businesses to support the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines. with a total amount of nearly 2,100 billion VND. Meanwhile, the Department of Health of Ho Chi Minh City has implemented the 3rd phase of Covid-19 vaccination from the vaccine distributed by the Ministry of Health. According to the plan, the organization of vaccination against Covid-19 1st and 2nd in the 3rd phase in Ho Chi Minh City will be completed on July 10; Complete vaccination before August 15 at the request of the Ministry of Health. Accordingly, the city continues to inject the second dose for those who have received the first injection if eligible. Continue to vaccinate people working at public and non-public health facilities in the city, hotels directly participating in isolation, and newly deployed isolation areas of the city. Ho Chi Minh City will complete the third phase of Covid-19 vaccination on July 10. In these cases, there were also a group of students from medical schools who volunteered to support the health sector in epidemic prevention and control; a group of people providing essential services, in which priority is given to the group of employees working at the airport (those who are in direct contact with flight crew, passengers, cargo, service staff, working in home shops). gas); group of people working at seaports (persons in direct contact with seafarers, cargo, ships); members of steering committees for disease prevention and control at all levels (cities, districts, districts, wards, communes, townships); group of patients with underlying medical conditions under inpatient treatment aged 65 years or younger (chronic kidney disease, diabetes…). According to the Department of Health of Ho Chi Minh City, it is expected that about 54,591 people will receive the second injection and 17,209 people will receive the first injection. Step 1: Visit https://www.bluezone.gov.vn or download directly at App Store or CH Play. Step 2: Once downloaded, the application will ask for permission to use Bluetooth to record contact with other Bluezone installed users. If Bluetooth is not open, drag the status bar and turn on Bluetooth; or go to Settings, select Bluetooth and turn it on. Step 3: Once the installation is done, click Scan Around. If someone near you less than 2m has used Bluezone, the application will automatically identify these users and put them in the contact list.

Remote medical examination and treatment system (Telehealth) of Viettel Military Industry – Telecommunications Group (Viettel) announced its contribution of 450 billion VND to the Covid-19 vaccine fund. Previously, Viettel’s officers and employees donated VND 19 billion to build a remote consultation center for the health sector. Mr. Le Dang Dung, Acting Chairman and General Director of Viettel said: “As a key enterprise of the country, Viettel is committed to both contributing technology solutions and taking the lead in financial contribution to the joint venture. Government to fight the epidemic”. Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic in early 2020, with the strength of being a technology enterprise, Viettel has supported the Government with many important solutions, effectively supporting the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic. . Specifically, Viettel has built a remote medical examination and treatment system (Telehealth) to 1,300 medical facilities nationwide, deployed 700 bridge points at hospitals with Covid-19 cases. Building the portal and app “Vietnam Health”, Medical Declaration, Disease Map, Electronic Health Book, Covid-19 Vaccine Passport nationwide. In particular, in just two weeks, Viettel has installed and integrated nearly 4,000 surveillance cameras in isolation areas in the northern provinces. Viettel’s virtual switchboard (Cyber ​​Bot) has made more than 200,000 calls to subscribers who have not installed Bluezone to mobilize and provide instructions on how to use it to protect themselves and the community from the Covid-19 epidemic.

This is the third COVID-19 vaccine that has been urgently approved by Vietnam, after the AstraZeneca and Sputnik V vaccines. COVID-19 vaccine (Vero Cell), Inactivated is prepared as an injectable suspension, each dose of 0.5 ml contains 6.5U of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 antigen. The name of the production facility, the country of production is Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co.,Ltd. – China. This vaccine was licensed by China on December 24, 2020, and was urgently approved by WHO in May. The approval of the COVID-19 vaccine (Vero Cell) Inactivated serves an urgent need in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic with conditions attached. Specifically: The vaccine was approved based on safety, quality and effectiveness data provided by the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology to the Ministry of Health as of May 29, and the commitment of the Central Hygiene and Epidemiology Committee. about the accuracy of the documents provided to the Ministry of Health. The Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology is responsible for coordinating with manufacturers, ensuring the conditions for vaccine production imported into Vietnam and ensuring safety, effectiveness and quality. The Institute cooperates with the Department of Science, Technology and Training (Ministry of Health), and qualified units to organize the evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. The Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology cooperates with the National Institute for Accreditation of vaccines and medical biologicals to develop an inspection plan, to provide test samples, materials, testing chemicals and other related issues for customers. testing batches of these vaccines before they are put into use. The Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology is also the unit responsible for guiding the storage, distribution and use of this vaccine for vaccination facilities, and at the same time coordinating with relevant units in implementing risk management. for this vaccine during its circulation in Vietnam. The use of this vaccine must follow the instructions of the Ministry of Health.

Illustration. (Source: Viettel) Military Industry-Telecommunications Group (Viettel) announced that it has contributed 450 billion VND to the COVID-19 vaccine fund. Before that, Viettel’s staffs had donations 19 billion VND to build a teleconference center for the health sector. Mr. Le Dang Dung – Acting Chairman and General Director of Viettel said: “As a key enterprise of the country, Viettel is committed to both contributing technology solutions and taking the lead in contributing financially and determinedly. together with the Government to fight the epidemic.’ Since the outbreak began in early 2020, with its strength as a technology enterprise, Viettel has supported the Government with many important solutions, effectively supporting the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic. Specifically, Viettel has built a Telehealth telehealth system to 1,300 medical facilities nationwide, deployed 700 bridge points at hospitals with cases. Building Portal and app “Vietnam Health”, Medical Declaration, Disease Map, Electronic Health Book, COVID-19 Vaccine Passport nationwide. The number of medical declarations from February 2020 to present reached 25,197,428. Portal “Vietnam Health” has a website with 43 million visits, this application also reaches about 1.6 million downloads. Especially, in just two weeks, Viettel has installed and integrated nearly 4,000 surveillance cameras in isolated areas in the northern provinces. Viettel’s virtual switchboard (Cyber ​​Bot) has made more than 200,000 calls to subscribers who have not installed Bluezone to mobilize and provide instructions on how to use it to protect themselves and the community from the COVID-19 pandemic.

People wait for their turn to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in Beijing. Photo: AP According to CNBC, within just 5 days of May, China injected 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to its people. Health officials hope to be able to vaccinate 80% of its 1.4 billion population by the end of 2021. As of June 2, China has injected a total of over 704 million doses of vaccine, of which half were administered in May. The total number of doses of COVID-19 vaccine that China has given to the population accounts for about one-third in one. ,9 billion doses of vaccine are distributed globally. The call to vaccinate is from all walks of life. Companies inject workers, schools urge students and teachers to immunize, local authorities urge people to vaccinate. According to Our World in Data, in 7 days, China is injecting an average of 19 million doses per day. With a population a quarter of China’s, the US only injected 3.4 million doses / day in April – when the vaccination campaign was operating at full speed. A medical worker administers a COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Shanghai, China. Photo: THX/VNA On May 30, Zhong Nanshan, the head of an expert group of the National Health Commission of China, said that 40% of the Chinese population has been vaccinated with at least one dose, and the government’s goal is to fully immunize all patients. this number at the end of June. In the capital Beijing, 87% of people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccination in Beijing is easy because there are hundreds of vaccination service points throughout the city. Vaccination buses are parked right in crowded areas such as city centers and commercial centers. However, vaccination in other areas is not as easy as in the capital. Ms. Zhou Hongxia, a resident of Lanzhou, Gansu province, said: “I started waiting in line for the injection at 9am and didn’t get the injection until 6pm. It’s tiring. When I returned, there were still people waiting.” Ms. Zhou’s husband couldn’t even schedule a vaccination. On May 31, government officials said they were working to ensure the supply of COVID-19 vaccine is distributed more evenly. Not only focusing on inoculating people in the country, China also injects its citizens abroad when donating vaccines to Thailand, part of which is used to vaccinate the Chinese before giving them to Thai people. Globally, China has injected more than 500,000 citizens abroad. Before the domestic vaccination campaign accelerated in recent weeks, many Chinese people were in no hurry to get vaccinated because China had almost no cases in the community thanks to tight border controls and mandatory isolation. Recently, China has appeared many small clusters of infection and is suppressing the cluster in Guangzhou. According to analysts, despite the uneven distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, Chinese manufacturers have hardly had problems with the scale of production. Both companies that produce most of the COVID-19 vaccines being used in China, Sinovac and Sinopharm, have drastically increased production, built new factories and converted existing factories to produce COVID-19 vaccines. . Vaccines of Sinovac Biotech (China) at a vaccination center in Bangkok, Thailand on May 12, 2021. Photo: THX/VNA Vaccines from Sinovac and one from Sinopharm have been approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization. “Where in the world can match China in terms of construction speed? How long does it take China to build field hospitals? Just a few days.” Sinovac said it has doubled production capacity to 2 billion doses/year, while Sinopharm said it can produce 3 billion doses/year. From the beginning of the year to the end of May, Sinovac produced 540 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Government support is crucial for vaccine manufacturers at every stage. Sinopharm said that right from the start of the vaccine research, it had borrowed a laboratory at a government research center. Chinese vaccine companies largely do not depend on imported products in the production process, so the scenario of shortage of raw materials and ingredients like the Serum Institute in India should be avoided. As of June 4, China had 91,194 cases of COVID-19, of which 4,636 died.

Australia is trying to prepare for a plan to produce an mRNA technology vaccine in this country. (Source: Reuters) In a recent meeting with the Senate, Mr. David Luchetti of the Australian Ministry of Industry and Science said that the Australian authorities have asked manufacturers to detail the potential for vaccine development in Australia. Australia. Currently, the Australian Ministry of Technology and Science has received applications from 15 companies, of which 5 are under consideration. The available information shows that if the production of mRNA technology vaccines on the basis of existing factories, it may take Australia 1-2 years to produce the first batches of vaccines. However, if a completely new factory is built, it may take 3-4 years for a new mRNA technology vaccine to be born in Australia. So at the moment it is difficult to predict when Australia will be able to produce an mRNA vaccine. Compared with traditional technology, mRNA promises to be more effective, faster, safer, with fewer side effects; can compare the difference like a motorbike and a jet. To make it easy to understand, the process of synthesizing each protein in the human body is like solving a complex math problem, mRNA becomes a manual of mathematical formulas. If humans can create a vaccine in the form of artificial mRNA, when injected into the body, the mRNA will disguise itself as a “thief” that sneaks in but does not wake up the “host”, it silently builds a defense system. are antibody proteins, so that when the virus attacks, it will be destroyed by that system. Regarding the possibility of Moderna company building a vaccine factory in Australia, Mr. David Luchetti said that Australia is currently in discussions with Moderna about this plan, but until now it is still uncertain about what. (according to VOV)

Australia is trying to prepare for a plan to produce an mRNA technology vaccine in this country. Source: Reuters However, if a completely new factory is built, it may take 3 to 4 years for a new mRNA technology vaccine to be available in Australia. So at the moment it is difficult to predict when Australia will be able to produce an mRNA vaccine. Regarding the possibility of Moderna company building a vaccine production plant in Australia, Mr. David Luchetti said that Australia is currently in discussions with Moderna about this plan, but until now it is still uncertain about what. / .

Jacob Hopkins, the first volunteer directly infected with the virus These volunteers have lined up to participate in the “human trial,” which has long been successfully used to develop vaccines for diseases such as typhoid and cholera. The world’s first human trial for Covid-19 began in the UK in March of this year, as scientists tried to determine the minimum dose of virus needed to infect volunteers. from 18 to 30 years old. Alastair Fraser-Urquhart, human trial volunteer Alastair Fraser-Urquhart “registered immediately” to participate in the trial and also became the manager of 1Day Sooner, a British non-profit that advocates for volunteers to participate in research studies. save on humans. “We are really, really lucky that an mRNA vaccine is a viable platform to start with, but there is no guarantee it will,” he said, “And even if it turns out to be completely useless. , thanks to a test like this, you can detect that in a matter of weeks instead of months.” Mr Fraser-Urquhart was one of the few to take part in the first phase of the trial, in which volunteers were screened before going into isolation at the Royal Free hospital in London. A few days later, the virus was injected into Fraser-Urquhart’s nose by a scientist wearing full protective gear while he lay in bed wearing only a T-shirt and jeans. There were about six other researchers, all covered from head to toe, standing in that room. “One of them stood in the corner of the room and counted down the seconds… as if it were a rocket launch,” Fraser-Urquhart said. He said the experience was both terrifying and memorable. “In the same room with such a large amount of pure virus… it looks like normal water. I didn’t expect to see coronavirus like this.” According to Jacob Hopkins, the first volunteer directly infected with the virus, after being injected, they will lie down for 10 minutes before sitting up and holding the position for another 20 minutes. “When we finished, we were… high five. It was a really weird moment, it was like “that’s great, Covid!”? And then it all really started.” After contracting the virus, the participants were monitored 24 hours a day for at least 14 days, and blood samples and nasal swabs were collected every day. Both Fraser-Urquhart and Hopkins felt fine for the first few days, but had to go through a few “difficult” days before recovering. “Honestly, it wasn’t easy, but it was an extraordinary experience, and one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life,” Hopkins said. “When you contribute to a project that can bring a lot of good… it feels good to be a part of it.” After discharge, the participants were followed up for a year so the researchers could detect any long-term symptoms. Overall, each person will be supported around £4,500 (VND 146.8 million) for their contribution. Fraser-Urquhart donated his first donation to The Vaccine Alliance, and plans to donate the rest to other charities. “It’s good to be able to demonstrate that at least some of the volunteers participate purely out of compassion,” he said. “Actually, this support never influenced my decision to join.” Some scientists have hesitated to expose volunteers to Sars-CoV-2 – the virus behind COVID-19 – because it currently has no cure, although there are several methods. The treatment has been shown to be effective. Meanwhile, some advocates of the trial argue that the coronavirus poses a low risk to young and healthy people and offers high benefits to society. These benefits include the ability to accelerate the development of a second-generation vaccine, as developing countries grapple with inadequate demand. They can also be used to compare people who are suitable for vaccines, develop treatments, and advance the scientific understanding of the virus.

Governments, medical experts and researchers are working to find the most effective strategies to deploy Covid-19 vaccination to quickly create herd immunity as the pandemic continues to sweep the world. limited supply of vaccines. According to the journal Nature, the world needs about 11 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine to immunize 70% of the world’s population, in case each person must receive two doses. However, the latest statistics of Bloomberg news show that, as of June 2, a total of more than 1.94 billion doses have been injected across 176 countries, equivalent to nearly 12.7% of the global population. required to be fully immunized. The situation of Covid-19 vaccination worldwide in terms of vaccination rate for the whole population (%). Graphics: Bloomberg In addition, there is inequality in vaccine distribution, with rich countries, which account for only 19% of the world’s population, capturing more than 50% of the full year’s supply while low- and middle-income countries, accounting for more than 50% of the total supply. More than 80% of the world’s population has access to less than a third of the vaccines shipped, exacerbating the problem. A conundrum now is how humanity can overcome the pandemic at the earliest when it is estimated that the total number of vaccines produced and distributed in the world in 2021 is only about 6 billion doses. more than 55% of the forecast demand mentioned above? Countries that have received the highest number of doses of Covid-19 vaccine in the world as of June 2. Source: Bloomberg Classification of priority groups for vaccination In order to optimize the mass vaccination campaign against SARS-CoV-2 virus in the current difficult conditions, most governments have decided to prioritize pre-vaccination for groups at high risk of infection with the virus. such as frontline medical staff, forces directly in charge of fighting the epidemic, people over 65 years old, people with chronic diseases or workers in the group providing essential services. In addition to the above approach, governments and scientists are also trying other solutions to achieve the most effective vaccination strategy possible while waiting for vaccine manufacturers to increase production and abundant supplies. more abundant. Experimental mixing of vaccines Some countries have recently considered mixing different vaccines to address shortages and delays in supply. The idea is not new, as scientists have been experimenting with this approach for decades against Ebola and HIV viruses. In the UK, scientists have decided to expand the study in the use of combinations of Covid-19 vaccines to assess whether mixing them is safe and helps prolong immunity in vaccinated people. strains or not. In February 2021, Oxford University began promoting a study called Com-Cov, whereby volunteers will be vaccinated with the first and second doses of two vaccines AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech. Preliminary research results, published in the Lancet medical journal in mid-May, revealed that mixing the two vaccines would increase the side effects of the vaccine, such as fatigue and headaches over time. short and in light form. Photo: Healthmag “It’s a finding that we didn’t anticipate. We still don’t know if this approach is associated with an improved immune response. We’ll find that out in a few weeks.” “, Professor Matthew Snape, who led the study, said on May 14. Snape and his colleagues also recently added Moderna and Novavax vaccines to the trial program. The authors hope that, if their study can demonstrate that the mixed vaccination produces an immune response as well as the standard vaccination and does not significantly increase the response to the vaccine, there will be more people complete their immunization plans sooner. This will also assist the health system in responding in the event of a shortage of any currently used vaccines. Similarly, the Philippine Department of Science and Technology (DOST) on May 24 also announced that it would start a study on mixing China’s Sinovac vaccine with other vaccines available in the country such as AstraZeneca, Pfizer/ BioNTech and Sputnik from June this year to November 2022. DOST Secretary Fortunato Dela Pena explained that Sinovac was the main target of the study because it is the most stable supply in the Philippines, accounting for 5.5 million doses out of the approximately 8.3 million doses the country has received for until now. Manila is aiming to have vaccinated more than half of its 110 million population by this year. However, according to Nikkei Asia, the nationwide vaccination campaign is facing many challenges when people focus on injecting only “branded” vaccines such as Pfizer, forcing many local governments to keep the name of the vaccine secret. Please be used in vaccinations. More spacing between injections In accordance with the regimen and recommendations of the vaccine manufacturers against Covid-19, after giving the first dose to the patient, after 3-4 weeks, medical facilities will inject the second dose (21 days apart for patients). with Pfizer vaccine and 28 days with AstraZeneca vaccine). However, the British government has decided to extend the interval between the two shots to 12 weeks to have enough vaccine to vaccinate more people. This decision caused a lot of controversy. However, British medical advisers explain, because most vaccines are proven to be more than 50% effective after the first shot, doing so will help increase immunity for more people against dangerous pathogens and help speed up the national immunization campaign. The number of new infections and deaths from Covid-19 is falling sharply in the UK. Graphics: Reuters There are no formal studies on the effectiveness of the initiative yet. However, there is an undeniable fact that the foggy country is sharply reducing the number of cases and deaths from Covid-19, allowing the country to start easing restrictive measures against the epidemic from 12/02. 4 and aims to get the country out of lockdown this summer. Vaccination for people 12 years of age and older The European Commission has approved the use of Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for children 12 years of age and older, European Union (EU) Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides announced on May 31. , giving the bloc’s member countries the option to expand their vaccination programmes. On the same day, the Japanese Government also announced a similar decision. The move took place not long after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on May 10 approved the use of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children aged 12-15. Previously, the product was only approved by the FDA. emergency use permission for persons 16 years of age and older. President Joe Biden called the FDA’s new step a promising development in the fight against the epidemic. Before the US, Canada on May 5 became the first country in the world to agree to expand the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine recipients to children 12 years of age and older, citing more benefits. risk. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that developed countries suspend the implementation of immunization for adolescents in order to share the surplus vaccine resources with poorer countries that have a shortage of vaccination supplies for children. older, high-risk groups. “The pandemic has proven that no one is safe until everyone is safe. Equal access to a Covid-19 vaccine is within our grasp. The sooner we do it, the better. The faster our lives and our children’s lives return to normal,” emphasized Ms. Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF.

Illustration GS. Dr. Truong Viet Dung, Chairman of the National Ethics Council in Biomedical Research, said in the SK & DS newspaper, in phase 3, the subjects of the Nano Covax vaccine trial in Vietnam will expand. The object here means the area, which can be extended to other areas such as workers in industrial zones. However, areas or industrial zones with COVID-19 cases were not selected for clinical trials because it would be interpreted as the epidemic situation that made people too worried and accepted to participate in the research. Therefore, research can only be carried out in industrial zones at risk of disease outbreaks, not in industrial zones with epidemics. Testing participants for COVID-19 to confirm the absence of antibodies is required. In the spirit of “testing as quickly as possible” of the Government, the Ministry of Health assigned testing units. Fast does not mean cutting, skipping stages. Any stage must comply with international requirements and standards. Do it very quickly but must be very standard, giving it to the Council must be approved immediately. In general, in accordance with the process and step by step of each phase, so that the Ministry of Health has enough scientific basis to be able to grant urgent and conditional use of Nano Covax vaccine in Vietnam. Information on Vietnam plus, Deputy Director of Military Medical Research Institute Ho Anh Son said that according to the latest information, it is possible that as soon as next week (expected in early June 2021) will enter vaccine research. Nano Covax phase 3 with the expected number of volunteers to participate is about 13,000 people. In phase 3, the implementation is very fast, following the correct process, and at the same time meeting the needs of disease control in Vietnam. Up to now, the Military Medical Academy has mobilized a lot of doctors, technicians, students… to participate in the testing process so that it can be ready for deployment in 10 provinces/cities across the country at the same time. country. After testing phase 1 and phase 2, Nano Covax vaccine is quite safe, so the criteria for recruiting volunteers will be relaxed more than the previous 2 phases. Volunteers participating in phase 3 from 18-75 years old, only need to check the blood count and check for antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. People who have been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus or already have antibodies will be excluded from the test population. More about the phase 3 trial, Lieutenant General, Professor-Dr. Do Quyet, Director of the Military Medical Academy, Ministry of National Defense said that he believes in the safety of the Nano Covax vaccine with the results achieved. through the previous two phases of testing. According to the Director of the Military Medical Academy, immunogenicity is reflected in two main factors: antibody concentration and antibody immunogenicity. Specifically, the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 virus antibodies after injection of the phase 2 trial showed a very high increase in antibody titres, from tens to hundreds of times. Antibody immunogenicity to assess the ability to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 virus living at the 35th day of good response, above the prescribed threshold. As for the ability to neutralize the virus at day 42, the team has now evaluated 22/110 samples; expected to be completed in early June 2021 to report to the National Ethics Council in Biomedical Research. Phase 3 aims to evaluate the protective effect of the vaccine on the community, designed in many centers, expanding to other localities with a larger number of samples with only 1 injection. Based on the results of the evaluation, the National Ethical Council in Biomedical Research selected the experimental injection of 25mcg dose. Strictly following international guidelines, the National Ethical Council for Biomedical Research also identified a phase 3 trial in 10,000 people. Military Medical Academy complies with the approved outline and deploys to recruit volunteers.

The trend of “Covid-19 vaccine tourism” is flourishing in many places (Photo: FORBES) After more than a year of being “locked up” because of Covid-19, the world is witnessing the blooming of the “Covid-19 vaccine tour”. Is this type really the key to reviving tourism or is it bringing a lot of unpredictable potential? New trend Since December last year, Mr. Enno Lenze, a German businessman and museum director, has been looking for many sources to get an early Covid-19 vaccine but wants to go abroad. Finally, the opportunity came to him. A tour company in Norway called World Visitor provided a travel package to Moscow, Russia to get the Sputnik V vaccine. Brother Lenze and 50 other Germans took the opportunity and went to Russia to get the Sputnik V shot. the first one in early April. This month, he and the others will return to Russia for a second injection. Many people seek out the Sputnik V vaccine by traveling to Moscow (Image: AP) “I have visited many places. I’m interested in space travel and I want to see Soviet-era spaceships,” Lenze told National Geographic. World Visitor also offers a three-week “wellness” tour package where guests can relax at a spa in Turkey between Covid-19 shots. Albert Sigl, co-owner of World Visitor, said that he has sold Covid-19 vaccination tours to about 600 customers from Germany and Switzerland, two European countries that currently have flights to Russia. According to Mr. Sigl, the company will continue to open Covid-19 vaccine tours to other countries when they open. In Austria, tour operator Impfreisen.at is also offering unconditional reservations for a series of holiday packages with “guaranteed rights to a Covid-19 vaccine”. For those who can’t afford it, Impfreisen even offers free rides to 1 in 10 people who book the cheapest package, if they can prove it’s financially viable. Last week, The Wall Street Journal of the United States reported that it did not take until New York City announced a plan to provide Covid-19 vaccination services to foreign tourists, the tourism industry from Texas to Florida already Heats up as tens of thousands of tourists from Mexico and many other countries come to these states to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Some states in the US, including Texas, do not require vaccination applicants to present proof of residency status. According to the AP news agency, wealthy tourists, including politicians, TV stars, leaders of companies and famous players in Latin America, have come to the US to get vaccinated against Covid-19. People stand in line to check in at Silvio Pettirosso Airport (Paraguay) to Miami. Many Latin Americans who come to the US for vaccinations have friends or relatives who live in the US and can help them get vaccinated against Covid-19. (Photo: AP) Most Covid-19 vaccination tours are from Mexico to Texas. Mexican airlines have opened more routes to South Texas and increased frequency of flights. Flights to Houston, Dallas and San Antonio have also been booked weeks in advance and fares are also increasing significantly. In addition, the charter flight service to the US for vaccination is also flourishing in Mexico. Cindy Mijares, a 31-year-old jewelry designer from Monterrey, Mexico, said that like many of her friends, she booked a Covid-19 vaccination at a pharmacy in Texas. The Wall Street Journal, citing preliminary data from Mexico City International Airport, showed that in April, about 207,000 passengers departed for the United States, compared with 177,000 in March and 95,000 in February. in April were Houston and Dallas, with 41,000 and 26,000 passengers, followed by Los Angeles, Miami and San Antonio. People get a shot of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine at a mobile vaccination center in South Beach, Florida (Image: TheBangkokPost) The wave of Covid-19 vaccine tourism also spread to Asia. Recently, many Thai tour companies have offered Covid-19 vaccination tours to the US and Russia. A Bangkok-based tour operator, Unithai Trip, offers packages ranging from 75,000 baht to 200,000 baht ($2,400 to $6,400) for tours to San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, at extra prices. depending on the time interval between injections of each Covid-19 vaccine. Unithai Trip CEO Rachphol Yamsaeng told Reuters: “Johnson & Johnson only needs one shot, but 90% of travelers require Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine,” so it takes about 20 days between the first dose. first and second dose. Meanwhile, another tour operator, My Journey Travel, is offering a 10-day trip to San Francisco for Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine. This company information, in just three days of opening the tour, they received hundreds of calls to ask about this tour. The US is not the only destination to get a Covid-19 vaccine for Thais. Udachi, a travel agency, has offered a 23-day tour called “Vaccine Vacation in Russia” to get the Sputnik V vaccine for up to 210,000 baht ($6,700). Travel leverage? After more than a year of “freezing” because of Covid-19, some countries with tourism as the mainstay of the economy are looking to increase tourist numbers by offering travel packages with Covid-19 vaccinations. “Paradise” Maldives has pursued a “3-V” strategy to encourage tourists to “visit, vaccinate and relax” (Vist, Vaccine and Vacation). Maldivian tourism minister Abdulla Mausoom told CNBC this would provide visitors with “more convenience” when on vacation. Mr. Mausoom said that while only about 13% of Maldivians are fully vaccinated, about 90% of frontline tourism workers are vaccinated. This figure points to the importance of the tourism sector in the economic recovery prospects of the Indian Ocean “resort paradise”. According to I. Glenn Cohen, a professor at Harvard Law School and director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics, traveling for medical treatment is not a trend. new save. The thriving medical tourism market has been around for many years. In the case of the Covid-19 vaccine, as long as the risk groups are protected first, vaccine-abundant countries can use them to restart tourism, but provided this is done carefully. kidney. “What matters is where the net benefits go,” he said. This benefit should benefit the poorest people in the community, not just the rich.” Although two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine may make countries retain tourists longer because it takes time for the body to produce an immune response, the following travel activities should not be rushed. vaccination. Passengers disembark from a plane at Velana International Airport in Male, Maldives, July 15, 2020. Maldives is currently encouraging foreign tourists to return with a “3-V” strategy that combines visits, vaccinations and resorts. (Photo: GETTY IMAGE) Professor Cohen said he was a bit concerned and advised tourists who had just been vaccinated against going to markets or shopping malls right away. On May 6, New York began promoting itself as a tourist destination for those seeking a Covid-19 vaccine. Previously, from April, the Florida state government announced that it was canceling the requirement to be a resident of the state to receive the vaccine after the first wave of vaccination tourism. In Alaska, in an effort to boost local tourism, Governor Mike Dunleavy said visitors can get a free Covid-19 vaccine at the state’s main airports starting June 1. Mexican travel companies, already reeling from the pandemic, quickly recognized the opportunity. Eduardo Paniagua, head of the Mexican tourism industry association, said that in March and April, travel agencies sold tours to the US to 170,000 people, most of whom traveled for injections. Covid-19 vaccine. The US-Mexico border remains closed to non-essential land travel, but travelers can still travel by air. More than just coming to get vaccinated, travel to the US has a direct impact on local economies. Vaccinated tourists spend money on airline tickets, hotel stays and spend more time shopping and eating. These special tours are helping revive the economies of places like Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, which have been hit hard by a year of border closures. Saul Sanchez, co-owner of Carats in McAllen, Texas, helps a customer try on jewelry. The business of the stores declined when the border closed and was buoyed by the return of Mexican tourists (Image: WSJ) Before the pandemic, Mexican tourists to McAllen, Texas typically contributed about $1 billion of the country’s $3.5 billion average annual retail sales, said Steve Ahlenius, president of the local chamber of commerce. city. Although locals have the lowest income in the US, the area is a top destination for wealthy Mexican tourists. Is it legal? At a glance, it can be seen that Covid-19 vaccination tourism is an attractive form to restore the tourism industry. But many people are also questioning the legitimacy of this type of tourism, the risks to tourists when participating in vaccination tourism and even its ethics. At this time, no formal arrangements have been made to ensure that foreign tourists are vaccinated against Covid-19 in the country they travel to. So tourists getting vaccinated could be frustrated and risk losing money. Reuters quoted Thailand’s Tourism Ministry on May 5 warning, travelers need to carefully check vaccination travel packages because the entry regulations in each state in the US are different. Euronews reported last month that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the government would consider a vaccination tourism program, but that Russian citizens were an “absolute priority”. Meanwhile, information on social media about vaccination tours for tourists from Turkey to Serbia has been denied by the Turkish Ambassador to Belgrade and the Serbian Embassy in Ankara. They confirmed that only Turks with a residence permit in Serbia are allowed to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Some countries have clearly announced that they do not welcome tourists to receive Covid-19 vaccines. In the UK, for example, the Covid-19 vaccine can only be administered through the public health system and must wait until a doctor’s appointment is received. At the appointment, the vaccinated person needs to confirm personal information, such as home address. It is possible that many other countries have adopted similar measures. In some respects, Covid-19 vaccine tourism can contribute towards the common goal of ending the Covid-19 pandemic soon. So far, the WHO has urged Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers to keep their commitments to equitable distribution of vaccines. But with some richer countries starting to monopolize the stockpiling of excess vaccines to make a profit, Covid-19 vaccine tourism will only prolong the wait for access to Covid-19 vaccines in many parts of the world. , especially in poor countries, and exacerbated the imbalance of supply and demand for Covid-19 vaccines. These consequences will likely slow down efforts to end the Covid-19 pandemic, which WHO insists can only be achieved by global cooperation in vaccine sharing.

The WHO Independent Panel of Experts recommends the use of Sinovac vaccine for people over 18 years of age. The evaluation data show that this vaccine is effective in protection in the elderly. Sinovac is the second Chinese vaccine approved by WHO for emergency use. (Photo: Reuters) WHO’s decision was made based on a review of the latest clinical data on the safety and efficacy of Sinovac’s vaccine as well as the company’s manufacturing practices. On May 5, the WHO technical advisory group met, reviewed and evaluated the Sinovac vaccine. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that Sinovac vaccine is safe and effective, emphasizing that it does not require a high level of vaccine preservation, suitable for low-income countries. “Now it’s important to get these life-saving tools quickly into the hands of those who need them.” , the head of WHO said. Sinovac is the second Chinese vaccine approved by WHO for emergency use. On May 7, the Sinopharm vaccine became the first vaccine not from a Western pharmaceutical company to be approved by the WHO. Meanwhile, China’s third vaccine, manufactured by CanSino Biologics, has also submitted clinical trial data. However, WHO has not yet scheduled an assessment. As of the end of May, Sinovac pharmaceutical company has supplied more than 600 million doses inside and outside China, of which more than 430 million doses have been used.

In the statement, the WHO’s independent expert panel recommended that Sinovac be given to adults over 18 years of age, with a second dose initiated every 2-4 weeks. There is no age limit for this vaccine, as data shows it is likely to protect older adults. This is the second Chinese vaccine approved by the WHO for emergency use – after the Sinopharm vaccine approved in early May. Covid-19 vaccine box manufactured by Sinovac pharmaceutical company. Photo: Anadolu Agency. A third Chinese vaccine, manufactured by CanSino Biologics, has submitted clinical trial data, but WHO has not scheduled a review. Sinovac said it had delivered more than 600 million doses of the vaccine at home and abroad as of the end of May, of which more than 430 million had been administered. In addition, China has deployed hundreds of millions of doses of its own vaccines – including Sinopharm and Sinovac – to many countries, especially in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Many of these countries have difficulty finding a vaccine developed by the West.

The tour is organized in the form of Free & Easy, including airline tickets to the US and hotel rooms of 3 stars or more standard; Covid-19 test fee before entering the US; visa fees to the US; Travel insurance and guides support registration, procedures for vaccination against Covid-19 vaccine in the US. The price offered is 44.99 million VND/pax for the 8 day 7 night tour. This is the first travel agency in Vietnam to organize a tour to the US to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Other companies are also listening to the situation to organize similar tours. Some travel companies in Vietnam are also considering and learning about US tours to vaccinate Previously, in the region, some Thai travel companies also offered vaccination tours in the US. Specifically, the company My Journey Travel offers a package “Covid-19 vaccine tour”, a 10-day flight to California (USA). With a cost of 2,400 USD/person (about 55 million VND, excluding airfare), so far, more than 200 people have booked. Prices above include a single dose of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. Another company, Unithai Trip in Bangkok (Thailand), also launched tour packages from 75,000 baht to 200,000 baht ($2,400 to $6,400, equivalent to 55 to 147 million dong) for flights to San Francisco, Los Angeles. and New York. According to the VNA, tourists from other countries are flocking to the US to combine tourism with vaccination. To date, tens of thousands of tourists from Mexico and some other countries have flown to Texas and Florida to get vaccinated. Or, thousands of wealthy tourists, including politicians, TV stars, leaders of companies and corporations in Latin America, have come to America to get vaccinated. Some chartered private planes to go to the US. Therefore, organizing tours combined with vaccination is a business opportunity for tour operators. Vaccination demand soars Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, General Director of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in PLO newspaper, said that it is normal to go abroad with Vietnamese tourists, not banned. As for entry, they must comply with regulations in the context of the complicated development of the Covid-19 epidemic. According to some companies and travel experts, the above price of 44.99 million VND is only suitable for those with conditions, because that price does not include food, travel, and personal expenses at the hotel. America. Not to mention, depending on the vaccine, you have to wait for the second shot. With the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, only one dose is needed, but if you want to get the Pfizer vaccine, you have to wait 20 days to get the second shot. After completing the injection, when returning to Vietnam, the tourist is still quarantined for 21 days at an isolation facility and then monitored for 7 days at home according to current entry regulations of the Health sector and the authorities. Thus, a complete trip with vaccinations in the US to be able to contact the community takes from 1 and a half to nearly 2 months, not to mention the cost of isolation when returning home. Bao An

Diners enjoy coffee outdoors, when shops are allowed to reopen after a 7-month separation to fight the COVID-19 epidemic, in Brussels, Belgium on May 9, 2021. Photo: AFP/VNA According to European sources, during the meeting in Brussels, diplomats proposed that those who can present a certificate of having had a full dose of an EU-approved COVID-19 vaccine, can enter the bloc. . In addition, the limit for assessing a country on the list of entry restrictions has also been raised, whereby this list will include countries with a rate of new infections within two weeks of 75 cases per 100,000. population, instead of the current 25 cases. The recommendations are expected to be approved by EU ministers on May 20. Currently, the 27 EU member states still ban entry without a good reason, except for some countries considered safe with low rates of COVID-19 cases. However, business in Europe is also being resumed after the epidemic prevention restrictions are lifted. * On the same day, French people could not hide their joy when they were able to do old habits again such as sipping a cup of coffee outside a restaurant, preparing to go to the cinema or visit a museum. After more than 6 months of imposing measures to control the COVID-19 epidemic, France has relaxed restrictions, whereby cafes and restaurants with courtyards or rooftop gardens can serve guests to eat and drink. outdoors, while museums, cinemas and theaters will also reopen. This is part of phase 2 of the plan to lift the blockade. After that, restaurants will be allowed to serve indoors from June 9, and the French economy will fully reopen on June 30. Contrary to the deserted atmosphere, “doors closed, bolted” for many months, all over Paris, cafes and restaurants are busy preparing and arranging outdoor dining and drinking areas, while the first “gods” were enjoying their morning coffee. Mr. Pascal, manager of Saint Jean’s in the Montmartre district, is pleased to say that he has welcomed 3 customers to drink coffee. Meanwhile, one of the customers called it a big change from having to buy takeaway coffee. In the western city of Rennes, Patricia Marchand, manager of the cafe des Feuilles, confirmed that the whole city center is busier and full of excitement, although the meteorological agency predicts rain may occur in many places. . Also from May 19, the night curfew in France will also be shortened by 2 hours, starting at 21:00. Thus, people were able to have dinner together and chat longer, although eating and drinking still had to be limited to no more than 6 people/table. Not only enjoying a cup of coffee or drinking wine, many French people also look forward to going to the movies or watching exhibitions. In a statement posted on the webiste, the Louvre museum posted a status line expressing its joy when it was reopened to visitors. In order to boost the economy, France has also decided to reopen non-essential businesses but must implement social distancing regulations. Currently, the number of patients with COVID-19 in intensive care units in France has decreased to 4,250 cases, much lower than about 6,000 cases a month earlier. The weekly rate of new cases also fell to 142 cases per 100,000 people, much lower than 400 at the beginning of April.