HCMC – The Vietnam Military Medical Academy today, December 17, started the trial injection of a Covid-19 vaccine, Nano Covax, produced by Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC on the first three people.
This is the first phase of the human trial of the vaccine, the local media reported.
According to Professor Do Quyet, director of the Vietnam Military Medical Academy, the academy and Nanogen have carefully prepared for the trial and the safety of volunteers will be prioritized.
They will detemine the effect of the vaccine on these three people for 72 hours after the vaccination to determine the dosage and number of volunteers in the next phase.
Participants will be closely monitored for 56 days and follow-up evaluations will continue for six months from the first injection.
The second phase will be conducted in March next year, while the third phase, with the participation of 3,000-4,000, even 10,000 volunteers, will take place in August 2021.
In the first phase, 60 healthy volunteers aged from 18 to 50 would be classified randomly into three groups, which would take a respective dosage of 25, 50 and 75 micrograms.
Each volunteer will receive two injections, 28 days apart.
A Nanogen representative said the company and the relevant agencies had made preparations to deal with possible incidents.
Nanogen has also cut a deal with an insurance provider to insure volunteers joining the vaccine trial in case their health is affected by the Covid-19 vaccination. The company has also made a large deposit at a bank to pay for cases which are not covered by the insurance fund.
Dr Nguyen Ngo Quang, deputy head of the Department of Science, Technology and Training under the Ministry of Health, said three delegations have been established to support researchers, comprising a delegation of the ministry and the research ethics committee, another of the Vietnam Military Medical Academy and an independent delegation hired by sponsors.
