On the afternoon of August 19, Deputy Minister Thuan, Head of the Health Ministry’s Special Working Group on Clinical Trial Research and Development of Covid-19 Vaccines, inspected the trials at Vu Thu District Medical Centre in the northern province of Thai Binh.
Thuan emphasised that the research, development and production of COVID-19 vaccines in Vietnam is one of the important strategies for disease prevention and control in the country. Right from the early breakouts of COVID-19 in 2020, leaders of the Party, State, Government and Ministry of Health have actively met with and encouraged experienced scientists in the research and production of locally-made COVID-19 vaccines.
The deputy minister expressed his belief that with the participation and guidance of leading domestic and international experts, the Vietnamese health sector will achieve good results in research on vaccines to prevent COVID-19, towards the production of affordable, safe and effective vaccines.
Covivac has been developed and produced by the Health Ministry’s Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC) since late May 2020. It is the second homegrown vaccine to be approved by the Ministry of Health for clinical trials, after Nanocovax.
The vaccine has been given to 100 volunteers at Hanoi Medical University within the first phase of human trials, starting from March 2021.
On August 3, the National Ethics Committee in Biomedical Research received the mid-term report on phase 1, with positive results showing that the candidate vaccine is safe and immunogenic, and thus eligible to move to phase 2.
In the second phase, carried out in Thai Binh, a total of 375 volunteers aged 18+ have been chosen and classified into three groups, 3 mcg and 6 mcg dosages and a dose of AstraZeneca vaccine. It is expected that the mid-term results of phase 2 will be available in November.
To date, nearly 700 volunteers have registered to participate in the phase 2 trial for the Covivac vaccine, of which 400 qualified people have been screened.
On August 19, a roundtable meeting themed "Protecting White Blouse on the Frontline" was co-organised by Lao Dong (Labour) Magazine and Vietnam Health Trade Union to discuss how to protect doctors and medical workers on the front lines against COVID-19 amid the unpredictable developments of the pandemic.
There have been more than 10,000 officials, doctors and medical staff in the North and Central regions, including over 6,000 doctors and nurses at the central level, who have set out to provide aid to the hard-hit Southern localities.
