The Covid-19 vaccine production effort has initially been evaluated as promising. Some ASEAN countries have begun signing contracts with pharmaceutical companies to order vaccines. Thailand and the Philippines are the two newest countries in ASEAN last week signed an agreement to order vaccines produced by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca in cooperation with Oxford University.
Other ASEAN countries have also taken similar steps, in addition to collaborating on research to produce vaccines themselves. On the determinant of each country in which vaccine to choose, many believe safety and efficacy will be the top considerations, but the cost cannot be ignored. And geopolitical reasons are also a factor that cannot be ignored. South China Morning Post quoted Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious diseases expert in Singapore, pointing out: “If you look at the Philippines and Malaysia, you see there is a strong patronage of China.”
Vietnam
Vietnam has begun research and development efforts for the Covid-19 vaccine for several months. The latest information by Tuoi Tre newspaper said that by the beginning of December at the latest, the vaccine was developed by Nanogen Company using recombinant protein technology will be injected for human testing in phase 1. The Military Medical Academy will plan to launch a trial of Covid-19 vaccination on volunteers.
Health officials said the Covid-19 vaccine “made in Vietnam” was born to meet domestic needs, be autonomous, as a foundation for the development of vaccines against other coronavirus strains in the future.
However, the ability of Vietnam’s vaccine to be produced early as well as insufficient doses for large-scale vaccination is very low. Therefore, the external supply is still the main source.
At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held on October 15, spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang confirmed that Vietnam had ordered Sputnik V vaccine from Russia and British vaccine.
As of November 30, Vietnam has detected one local transmission case in Ho Chi Minh City ending a streak of nearly three months. The patient contracted the virus from a flight attendant that had been quarantined. On the next day, The Prime minister of Vietnam banned all commerce flights from foreign countries to this country. More than 100,000 students in Ho Chi Minh City must move to e-learning. Until 4th December, Vietnam’s Ministry of Health confirmed a total of 1,361 cases of COVID-19, 1209 of the affected patients have recovered and been discharged from hospitals. Vietnam has also recorded 35 deaths due to pandemic.
Thailand
According to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, on November 27, Thailand signed an agreement worth $ 200 million to buy 26 million doses of vaccine from Oxford / AstraZeneca. The vaccine is expected to be delivered by mid-2021. Thai health officials say 26 million doses will be administered to 13 million out of 69 million people, according to the Bangkok Post.
In October, Thailand’s Ministry of Health, Siam Bioscience Company, and SCG business group also signed a letter of intent with AstraZeneca. The agreement to allow Siam Bioscience to produce the vaccine (AZD1222) at its factory, is scheduled for mid-next year. If the plans go smoothly, Thailand will become the first country in Southeast Asia to produce the vaccine, says Siam Bioscience. So far, on December 3, Thailand has 4039 people infected (increase 13 new cases), 3832 people recovered, and 60 deaths.
Philippines
In the Philippines, on November 27, more than 30 private companies signed an agreement to buy at least 2.6 million doses of vaccine from AstraZeneca. Business owners say they plan to donate most of the vaccine to the government and use the rest to give injections to their employees.
According to Philippine officials, besides the 2.6 million doses mentioned above, the country is also negotiating to buy another 1 million doses.
Bloomberg news agency quoted Joey Concepcion, a business adviser to the President of the Philippines, said the vaccine is expected to be delivered in May or 6/2021 and could be injected to 1.5 million people.
The Philippines is also currently seeking to order 20-50 million doses from Chinese company Sinovac and US company Pfizer among other sources.
The Philippine government says it is targeting about 60 million Filipinos to be vaccinated with Covid-19 in about two years from 2021. The plan, at a cost of more than 73 billion pesos ($ 1.4 billion), aims to develops immunity in the majority of the population.
The Philippines suffered heavy losses during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the latest updated data showing that more than 428,000 people were infected and 8,333 died.
Myanmar:
Minister of Health and Sports U Myint Htwe has said Myanmar will send a formal proposal to Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance on December 7, to secure COVID-19 vaccines as soon as possible. Even though a Covid-19 vaccine is coming, only 20% of Myanmar people will get vaccinated initially, so prevention measures must continue to control the recent spike in cases, said Dr. Maw Maw O, head of the Emergency Treatment Department at Yangon General Hospital. Myanmar is facing a lack of a health system. The hospital has not enough space for a huge outbreak.
In Myanmar, on December 3, this country recorded 1,418 new cases of Covid-19, the second-highest number in ASEAN, after Indonesia. The number of deaths in Myanmar on 3/12 was 30, which is also the second-highest in ASEAN. Up to now, Myanmar has a total of 95,018 Covid-19 cases, of which 2,028 died.
Malaysia
Also on November 27, Malaysia signed an agreement with the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the agreement to order 12.8 million doses of vaccine could provide for 6.4 million people. Malaysia is expected to receive its first 1 million doses from Pfizer in the first quarter of 2021. Subsequent deliveries will be made in the remaining quarters of next year. However, delivery times currently depend on whether the Pfizer vaccine is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Malaysian Drug Administration.
In addition, Malaysia will conduct the first test of the Covid-19 vaccine in December, as part of the agreement between the government and China. This will be phase III testing of a vaccine developed by the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Medicine.
Currently, Malaysia has a total of 63,176 infected people, of which 51,314 have been cured. The death toll was 354.
Indonesia
Indonesia has ordered at least four vaccine suppliers, including China’s Sinovac Biotech and AstraZeneca. Data compiled by Bloomberg show that this accessibility makes Indonesia the second largest country in Asia, behind China and on par with Japan and India, in vaccination guarantees.
According to The Strait Times, Indonesia has started negotiations with the US pharmaceutical group Pfizer to ensure a sufficient supply of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine before launching a major vaccination next year in the fourth most populous country. The country has so far signed commitments to buy 189 million doses of vaccine from Sinovac in China, Novavax in the United States, and Covax, an international Covid-19 vaccine distribution system co-led by the World Health Organization.
Since April, Indonesian state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma – which is considered the largest vaccine factory in Southeast Asia with a capacity of 2 billion doses per year – has partnered with Sinovac to develop the Covid-19 vaccine. . Once successful, this program could produce up to 250 million doses per year.
On November 27, Indonesia recorded the country with the biggest number of new infections with nearly 6,000 cases, the number of deaths within 24 hours is also worrying with 169 cases.
As of today, Indonesia has a total of 527,999 cases and 17,355 deaths, record the country with the largest number of infections in Southeast Asia.
Singapore
Scientists at Singapore’s Duke-NUS School of Medicine are working with the company Arcturus Therapeutics to develop a vaccine (ARCT-021). Early human trials show great promise, and the vaccine is likely to be ready for vaccination next year, according to Arcturus Therapeutics.
According to CNBC, the Singapore Bureau of Economic Development (EDB) has pledged to spend $ 220 million on the Arcturus vaccine. In particular, the agency has invested $ 45 million in the vaccine research and development program. Once the vaccine is successfully developed and approved, the EDB will spend an additional $ 175 million on the purchase.
The Strait Times newspaper also quoted Professor Ooi Eng Eong from Duke-NUS School of Medicine as saying that with many international vaccine research programs showing positive results, Singapore is not in a hurry to choose one. Instead, the government will consider choosing the most effective one.
Singapore is considered to have succeeded in fighting against the Covid-19 epidemic. To date, the country has 58,228 cases of infection, of which 58,119 cases have recovered. The death toll was 29.
Cambodia
Ministry of Health spokeswoman Or Vandine told Khmer Times via Telegram yesterday, that when a vaccine is officially released, the WHO-led Covax initiative will be able to supply Cambodia with vaccines for three percent of the population, or just over 500,000 people.
Cambodia has reported six cases of COVID-19 in the community for the first time, forcing the temporary closure of Aeon Mall 1 in the capital’s Chamkarmon district, Ministry of Health’s spokeswoman Or Vandine said in a statement on Sunday (Xinhua)
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday (Nov 30) banned wedding parties and gatherings of more than 20 people, as authorities moved quickly to try to thwart a COVID-19 outbreak after announcing rare cases of community transmission (Following Xinhua)
Cambodia’s Education Ministry had earlier ordered all state schools to close until the start of the next school year in January after a local outbreak of the coronavirus. Students in private schools will be permitted to study online.(channelnewsasia)
The country saw three new cases on December 1, taking the total to 335 cases with 304 cases cured and 0 death.
