An area where volunteers will be monitored after they receive shots at the Vietnam Military Medical University (Photo: VNA)

Nguyen Ngo Quang, Head of the National Program on Vaccine Development, says that among the COVID-19 vaccines under development in Vietnam, the Nano Covax vaccine of the Nanogen Company has completed its first trial phase on humans. After two injections using different doses, 60 volunteers showed no serious health problems. They showed immunity after a maximum dose of 75 mcg.

The National Council of Ethics in Medical Research says the vaccine can enter its second human trial period because apparently it is safe and produces good immunity.

Mr. Quang says 560 volunteers, 18 to 65, will participate in the second phase and be injected with 50 mcg or 75 mcg doses. The first injection of the second phase will be administered on Friday at the Vietnam Military Medical University in Hanoi and in Long An province. In late March, the second injection will be administered and the results of the second phase will be announced a month later. The third phase of the trial will begin in early May, when the Nano Covax vaccine will be injected in people at high risks such as airport staff, airline crew members, and frontline healthcare workers.

According to Quang, the Nano Covax vaccine is being produced with recombinant protein technology which is relatively flexible for new variants of SARS-CoV-2 virus. The Nanogen company is working with research agencies to test the vaccines on new variants. So far, the test on the South African variant of the virus has produced good results.

Vietnam is looking to import vaccines while accelerating the production of vaccines at home to ensure its vaccine supply.