The vaccine task force

The Prime Minister of Israel personally called the CEO of Pfizer 30 times to order vaccines.

Nearly a year ago, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu called the CEO of the vaccine manufacturer continuously, with exchanges occurring at three o’clock in the morning. Beyond committing to purchases at high prices, he also agreed to share with Pfizer medical data and the impact of the vaccine on the Israeli population, offering the company a rare opportunity to trial the vaccine on a national scale.

“I was truly very impressed by the obsession (with acquiring Covid-19 vaccines) of your Prime Minister,” Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, said during an interview on an Israeli television channel.

Thanks to relentless efforts, Israel was granted special priority by Pfizer in vaccine supply and is currently the country with the world’s most effective vaccination program. The government even opened vaccination stations at bars, where people coming for shots were offered free drinks.

The country announced the reopening of its economy on February 21, 2021. This week, as the vaccination campaign reached over 62% of the population, Israelis went out onto the streets, partying, sunbathing, or hugging and kissing each other without needing masks.

As an enterprise in the education sector in Vietnam, upon returning to work after the holiday break, my associates and I understood that our company would continue days of losing billions of dong in revenue. During wartime, there were periods when during the day, my parents went down into bomb shelters, and at night continued to boost production. More than 40 years later, in peacetime, because of Covid-19, I have truly understood what “war” means. With every new wave of outbreak, risk management programs are reactivated by our enterprise to try to minimize damage. We face many difficulties after four pandemic waves, but we are no longer bewildered or panicked, nor can we criticize or blame.

But I know, not only us, many other enterprises have grown deeply exhausted. Never before has the wish for “peacetime” been as intense as right now. I long to be like Israelis, able to return to normal life rhythm and develop unfinished business plans.

How can Vietnam obtain enough vaccines fastest for over 96 million people? That is the largest and most worthy transaction to consider for the government and the whole country at this moment.

We have won a few battles, but that does not mean we will win the entire arduous war against the pandemic. None of us hope for a day when many countries in the region and the world have completed their vaccination programs while Vietnam still has not purchased enough or produced vaccines for its people. No one will be happy thinking about the prospect of the world returning to normal while Vietnam might not.

In reality, Vietnam is currently the country with the lowest vaccination rate in Southeast Asia. Up until last week, Cambodia had vaccinated 10.28% of its population, out of over 16.72 million. Indonesia had vaccinated 5% out of 272.53 million people. Singapore had over 23% of its population vaccinated with at least one dose. Thailand had vaccinated only 1.82% of its population out of 70 million, but this June, 4–6 million vaccine doses will arrive in Thailand as promised.

That is not to mention the US and Europe. 45% of the US population has been vaccinated. In the UK, it is 51%. On May 9, the number of Covid-19 deaths in the UK dropped to near 0. Meanwhile, Vietnam has vaccinated less than 1% of its population. What Vietnam has accomplished over the past period cannot be denied. Thanks to decisive policies and contact-tracing capabilities that no country could match, we have the right to be proud and grateful for the actions of the government, the Party, and the solidarity of the whole country.

However, please do not be prematurely optimistic. Because with the length of the border and the current situation, Vietnam cannot forever trace contacts, lock down, suspend business, or close trade. Vaccines are the sole weapon in this historic war.

DON’T WAIT FOR A GIFTS FROM HEAVEN

I believe Vietnam cannot hope for gifts falling from heaven. The WHO vaccine support program has other priorities, so we cannot wait around. It is also difficult to wait for the US, even though the US promises to supply 60 million vaccine doses to the world, how many thousands of those doses can reach Vietnam when 6 billion people in the world are all in need?

Even less can we hope for strategic relationships with any country, because in this emergency state, every country will pull out “strategic relationships” to capitalize on securing vaccine supply as early and as much as possible. When US President Joe Biden announced support for temporarily waiving vaccine patents, many people were excited thinking of the prospect where poor countries could produce vaccines themselves thanks to technology sharing. But wait!

The CEO of Moderna, Stéphane Bancel, stated that he was not losing a single bit of sleep over Mr. Biden’s statement, because even without patent protection, self-producing vaccines is by no means easy. Vaccine production is not merely a matter of patents; the major problem lies in raw materials, supply chains, manufacturing plants, storage facilities, and training teams to master mRNA technology. After that, it must also pass testing before hoping that vaccines reach the hands of the people. To accomplish this, developed countries with mountains of money would also take 12–18 months.

Vietnam, therefore, cannot yet rely much on domestically produced vaccines, because this process may extend for 2–3 years. So in the end, to avoid the risk of potentially becoming an island in the pandemic landscape, Vietnam must do everything to sign vaccine purchase contracts right now.

“DRASTIC SITUATIONS” REQUIRE “DRASTIC MEASURES”

First, at the national level, according to custom, national-scale decisions such as which vaccine to buy, in what quantity, must be approved by the Government and the Politburo; the vaccine purchase budget must pass through the National Assembly; and how pricing is structured, etc. But that also means the decision-making process will take a very long time. The Standing Committee of the National Assembly approved spending 12.1 trillion VND for vaccine purchases, but the actual budget to purchase 150 million vaccine doses is much higher than this figure. At a time when the whole world is racing for vaccines, there is no time for us to wait to negotiate with foreign parties, then return to report, and then wait through all standard approval procedures as usual.

If our Prime Minister were empowered to act similarly to the Prime Minister of Israel, making decisions immediately, Vietnam could seize the opportunities passing right before our eyes. To accomplish this, the National Assembly should approve a flexible budget for vaccine purchases in advance, and the Government should pre-license different types of vaccines—currently, only AstraZeneca’s vaccine is licensed. Everything ready, just to finalize immediately when necessary. Because finalizing a vaccine purchase contract might happen within just a few hours; if waiting for approval, waiting for licensing, or waiting for passage, Vietnam will hand that opportunity into the hands of other countries.

THE VACCINE TASK FORCE

Establishing a “task force” specialized in negotiating vaccine purchases, reporting directly to the Prime Minister to make decisions in the shortest time, is in my opinion an effective method that needs to be deployed immediately. The composition of the team could include members of the Government, outstanding diplomats, individuals with broad relationships and respect in vaccine-producing countries, enterprises with financial strength and international reputation, and individuals capable of making good connections on a global scale. I believe that anyone with capability is ready to work for the country.

Therefore, do not let fear of mechanisms and procedures cause pioneers to be hesitant. Provide the “vaccine task force” with an “immunity medallion” and a “sword of authority” so they can negotiate to obtain vaccines for the country at all costs. Because if negotiations stumble due to “procedural” reasons, not only will their relationships, personal reputations, and careers be affected, but national credibility will also be severely damaged. This is also an opportunity to see whether the Government is ready to dismantle procedural barriers or not.

There will be a thousand reasons justifying delays in purchasing enough vaccines. Such as mechanisms not being strong enough, insufficient cold storage facilities to store vaccines (Pfizer), which country manufactured the vaccine, insufficient auditing time, vaccination costs being very expensive, risks of having pricing issues reopened after purchasing vaccines, etc. All of those problems can completely be overcome at a cost far smaller than the losses that will occur if one day Vietnam becomes a “vaccine-less island.”

OR “PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP” MECHANISMS

To support the “vaccine task force,” Vietnam can call upon large private corporations or build public-private partnership (PPP) mechanisms. The Government can authorize one or multiple large economic corporations, along with consulting organizations and the aforementioned “task force,” to participate in this special mission.

Only large corporations with abundant cash reserves, strong international relationships, and credibility in the marketplace possess sufficient capacity to support the country. For themselves, participating in sourcing vaccines is also corporate social responsibility combined with profit potential. The advantage of enterprises is being decisive and very fast in decision-making. However, because vaccine manufacturers prioritize working directly with nations, enterprises still need the “task force” and strong state guarantees.

When we have additional vaccines, priority can be given to free vaccination for doctors, nurses, the military, police, and teachers, with priority given to subsidies or free shots for the poor—the vulnerable and disadvantaged group. As for the middle and upper classes, let them pay for their own vaccine doses to share the burden with the country.

I am also ready to purchase vaccines for my family and my enterprise. If only 1/5 of the population purchases vaccines themselves, the burden on the shoulders of the government and the whole country will be lightened considerably.

Israelis today are shopping, dining at restaurants, drinking coffee, and lounging in the sun without having to worry about Covid-19 anymore. Because essentially, their country has reached the threshold of herd immunity. That has been the longing of all humanity over the past nearly two years.

The Government, large enterprises, and truly capable individuals must act immediately if they do not want Vietnam to become the last follower in the pandemic.

We need people who dare to “be thick-skinned” to call 30 times or more, who dare to “wait and lodge” in front of the offices of major pharmaceutical companies to bring vaccines back for the country at all costs.

This is my personal viewpoint and completely does not reflect the viewpoint of the organization. Thank you to the three journalists (LH, TC, HP from 3 newspapers) who edited, advised, and provided many suggestions for this article. Thank you to VietnamNet for publishing this article.

Sources:

Nguyen Quoc Toan

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