Director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU) Guy Thwaites

Guy Thwaites supposed that at some point, the Government had to move from a “Zero COVID” strategy to a “living with COVID” strategy, adding that nearly every country in the world has done this.

The only way to do so safely is through vaccination. Vaccination prevents severe disease, the need for prolonged hospitalization, and death as well as protects the healthcare system from being overwhelmed–a critical strategic goal.

“The vaccine response, however, has been strong by the Government. Global vaccine supply has been notoriously difficult, especially for low and middle income countries. Nevertheless, the Government has managed to acquire significant numbers of vaccines and is currently giving shots to around one million people a day. This is a remarkable effort”, he emphasized.

The risk remains, however, that vaccine supply does not hold up and the goal of at least 70 percent of the population vaccinated remains elusive.  Viet Nam was a model of COVID-19 control for all of 2020. Meanwhile, at some point, the virus was likely to get the upper hand, and the more infectious delta variant, which appeared in Viet Nam in April 2021, was that moment.

The weakness back in April was that very few of the population had been vaccinated. So when the delta variant took hold in Ho Chi Minh City in June 2021, large numbers of people became very unwell. Sadly, many died, shared Director of the OUCRU.

The obvious answer for Viet Nam to effectively adapt to the pandemic in the coming time is vaccination. But it is very definitely not the only answer. Measures that reduce transmission of the virus are also important, like wearing masks and keeping social distance, especially when people are inside buildings.

Nobody wants to go back to lockdowns, but these are relatively simple measures, which do not have major economic or social impact. The other really important public health measure is surveillance–for infection and for new variants of the virus.

Infection can now be detected by rapid tests, and the widespread use of these, especially in large offices and factories, can be very helpful. But there also needs to be a coordinated effort across the country to look at the genetic codes of the virus and watch out for new variants of the virus appearing. 

Regarding outcomes of supportive activities taken by the OUCRU for Viet Nam over the past time, Guy Thwaites highlighted that the OUCRU has been supporting the Vietnamese Government since the start of the pandemic in many ways, for example, taking part in developing the first diagnostic tests in Viet Nam for the virus.

The OUCRU analyzed the effects of the virus in Vietnamese people and how it transmitted, decoded the genetic sequences of many of the viruses and helped detect the delta variant back in April as well as described the individual immune responses to vaccines and showed that mild infections still occurred despite two vaccines.

The OUCRU will continue helping Viet Nam’s response to COVID-19 including starting a new clinical trial looking to find the best treatments for severe COVID-19 patients (the RECOVERY trial), facilitating to develop new technologies that will monitor patients more easily, supporting the Government to strengthen their surveillance systems and continuing to conduct research that assists Viet Nam, and the region, in controlling the virus and preventing people from dying.