Fifteen more volunteers have been inoculated with Viet Nam’s second homegrown candidate vaccine COVIVAC on March 23 as part of its ongoing human trials.

A volunteer is given a shot of COVIVAC on March 23 (Photo: VNA)

The candidate vaccine will be also injected into 15 other volunteers on March 25.

Earlier on March 15, the first six out of the total 120 volunteers took their shots of the vaccine, with their overall health checked on March 22. They are now in stable health conditions and doing their work as normal.

All the volunteers will receive their second shots 28 days after the first.

Developed by the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC) since last May, COVIVAC is the result of cooperation between IVAC and a number of partners, including the Hanoi Medical University, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, the University of Texas in Austin, and the US-based health organisation PATH.

Using primary chicken embryo cell culture - a technique the institute used previously to successfully produce seasonal flu vaccines - it is the second “made-in-Viet Nam” candidate vaccine tested on humans.

The Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology Company earlier completed the first phase of human trials of its NanoCovax vaccine and began the second phase on February 26.

Source: VNA