Six volunteers officially joined the first human trial phase of Covivac, the second Vietnamese-made vaccine on March 15 at the Ha Noi Medical University. 

One of the six volunteers gets first Covivac vaccine dose, Ha Noi, March 15, 2021
- Photo: VGP/Hien Minh 

 Covivac is the second of this kind in Viet Nam after Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology’s Nanocovax that had received approval in late January.

The vaccine was developed by the the Nha Trang-based Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC) and the Ha Noi Medical University since last May, using primary chicken embryo cell culture, a technique the institute used previously to successfully produce seasonal flu vaccines.

Earlier, pre-clinical studies in India, the U.S. and Viet Nam showed that Covivac is safe and effective.

Dr. Ta Thanh Van, President of the Ha Noi Medical University was quoted as saying that as of March 12, 230 volunteers aged 18-59 without underlying health conditions registered to join the trial phase. Up to 120 volunteers were qualified for the human trials.

On this morning, six of them were invited to join the first trial and got their first shots. They would remain at the university for 24 hours following inoculation to ensure the absence of side effects.

The rest of 114 volunteers will be mobilized later until April 20 and divided into different groups from 12-18 people each and within time distance of eight days.

Each volunteer is expected to get two doses or a placebo 28 days apart.

They would have their health checked nine times over 13 months since the date they were chosen for the trial, including the first screening to ensure their suitability.

As planned, once a mid-term report of the first human trial phase is approved by the Ministry of Health, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) will deploy the second phase at the Vu Thu District Medical Center in Thai Binh province thanks to human trial experiences of other homegrown vaccines.   

Viet Nam currently has four Covid-19 vaccines under development by Nanogen, the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC), Vaccine and Biological Production Company No. 1 (Vabiotech) and the Center for Research and Production of Vaccines, and Biologicals (Polyvac).

While the production of domestic vaccines is underway, the government has speeded up foreign procurement to vaccinate some prioritized categories of people.

The country has ordered 30 million doses from AstraZeneca, and the first batch of 117,600 doses arrived in HCMC last month for people working on the front lines like medical workers, contact tracers and officials on Covid-19 prevention and control committees.

The government has stepped up negotiations with vaccine manufacturers in the U.S., Russia and some other countries to ensure it could get a total 150 million doses this year to cover 70% of its population./.