The second phase of the human trials of Nano Covax, a homegrown COVID-19 vaccine, will begin on February 26, following the first phase that has been proven safe.

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

As many as 560 volunteers, aged from 18 to 65, will participate in the second phase, according to Nguyen Ngo Quang, Deputy Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Training under the Ministry of Health.

The testing will be carried out at the Viet Nam Military Medical University in Hanoi and in the Mekong Delta province of Long An by the HCM City-based Pasteur Institute.

Unlike the first phase when volunteers got the doses of 25mcg, 50mcg and 75mcg, this phase’s volunteers will be injected with only 50mcg and 75mcg doses, according to the health official.

Most of the volunteers of the first phase that begun on December 17, 2020 are in stable conditions after vaccination. Only few reported pain at the injection spot and fever that disappeared after one to two days.

Developed by the Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC, Nano Covax is the first Viet Nam-made COVID-19 vaccine to enter human trials, with another two from other manufacturers to follow in February and March.

Viet Nam is one of the 40 countries that have conducted human trials of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The country also has several other COVID-19 candidate vaccines being developed, by the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC), the Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No.1 (VABIOTECH), and the Centre for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biologicals (POLYVAC).

Source: VNA