Vietnam to test highest dose of Covid-19 vaccine

The last group of 20 volunteers participating in the human trial of the made-in-Vietnam Covid-19 vaccine will be injected with the highest dosage in the next few days.

According to the Military Medical Academy, three volunteers has been injected with a 75 mcg (the highest) dose of NANOGEN Company's Nanocovax vaccine on January 12. In the next 72 hours, the remaining 17 people will receive the same dose.

Nanocovax vaccine produced by NANOGEN Company is the first made-in-Vietnam Covid-19 vaccine which is undergoing clinical trial in humans.

Previously, the Military Medical Academy injected doses of 25 and 50 mcg of the Nanocovax vaccine to 40 volunteers belonging to the first two groups. So far, all of them have been in stable condition, about 60% of them had a mild fever and felt pain on injection.

Testing made-in- Vietnam Covid-19 vaccine for the first time on December 17, 2020. Photo: Dinh Anh

Currently, the Academy of Military Medicine is recruiting between 400 and 600 volunteers to conduct phase 2 of the human trials and accelerate the trial of the Covid-19 vaccine.

On December 17, 2020, the Military Medical Academy began to conduct the first phase of clinical trial vaccination of Nanocovax on human. All volunteers in the first phase will be given two shots of Covid-19 vaccine, the interval between two shots is 28 days.

To ensure the safety of the volunteers, during the recruitment period of 60 participants, the safety assessment was carried out as the dosage was increased. All volunteers are covered by health insurance.

The human trial of Nanocovax would comprise three phases.

In the first phase, volunteers aged 18 to 50 are randomly divided into three groups to receive doses of 25 mcg, 50 mcg, and 75 mcg of the vaccine or a placebo. Vaccination consists of a two-dose schedule with an interval of 28 days.

The second phase is scheduled to start within February next year and last until August, with 400-600 volunteers aged 12-75 vaccinated, while the third phase is expected to see participation of up to 30,000 volunteers.

"Success of the trial would boost the pride of the health sector and serve as an effective tool against Covid-19," Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Duc Dam said while he visited the first three volunteers on December 20, 2020.

Three-phase human trials of the first made-in-Vietnam Covid-19 vaccine is scheduled to complete in February 2022.

Vietnam currently has four Covid-19 vaccines under development, the other three by 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).

The vaccine candidates developed by IVAC and Vabiotech are expected to be tested on humans in the first quarter of 2021. Vietnam also has plans to import Covid-19 vaccines.

Globally, 11 vaccines have entered phase three of clinical trials to date.

Thanks to strict quarantine and tracking measures, Vietnam has managed to contain its Covid-19 outbreaks with total infections at 1,515 and 35 deaths.