In the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, which has left devastating impact on health, the global economy, etc., the world has learned the hard way that in the end, no one is safe until everyone is safe. Vaccines were the the main weapon used in the fight against COVID, and helped many countries extricate themselves from the pandemic’s impact over the past few months. However, we also witnessed the grave imbalance of vaccine access and equity. Hence, local vaccine manufacturing is one of the most important areas considered by many developing countries around the world, especially in LMICs, to overcome vaccine inequity in future.
One of the important resource gaps identified by many experts in enabling local vaccine manufacturing is the availability of skilled, trained personnel in this highly technologically demanding field. To support these countries who want to fill this resource gap, the “Global Bio Manufacturing Workforce Training” was established by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare(MOHW) with support from WHO, including WHO Academy.
Training courses are administered by the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), the first of its kind global program supported by the Government of Korea, aim to provide essential, practical knowledge through an intensive short-term program designed to strengthen students’ professional capacity. Accordingly, the new program will include offline and online courses on biologics development and manufacturing, standard practice trainings such as GxP trainings, and onsite training and consultation for biomanufacturers.