The administration of the first 1,000 shots in the third-phase trials of Nano Covax, a home-grown COVID-19 vaccine candidate, has completed, the Hanoi-based Vietnam Military Medical University said.
A medical worker gives a shot of Nano Covax to a volunteer in the third-phase trials at the Hanoi-based Vietnam Military Medical University (Photo: VNA) – The
administration of the first 1,000 shots in the third-phase trials of Nano Covax,
a home-grown COVID-19 vaccine candidate, has completed, the Hanoi-based Vietnam
Military Medical University said.
The jabs were given to about
880 volunteers in the northern region under the university’s coordination and
more than 120 others in the south under the coordination of the Pasteur
Institute in Ho Chi Minh City.
The shots were administered
on a 6:1 ratio, which meant six got the vaccine and one received placebo,
according to Lt. Col. Chu Van Men, Director of the university’s Centre for Clinical Trials and Bioequivalence.
The volunteers will have
blood samples taken to test the generation of immunity by July 30, and data
about the vaccine safety and immunity generation are set to be available by
mid-September.
After the first 1,000
volunteers, the trials of Nano Covax will continue on another 12,000 on a 2:1
ratio, with two getting the vaccine and one the placebo.
The third-phase trials, using
only the 25mcg doses, cover 13,000 volunteers aged between 18 and 75 nationwide.
Results of the first two
stages show good immunity generation in all volunteers, Men noted.
Nano Covax has been developed
by the Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology
JSC since May 2020. The first-phase trials began on December 18, 2020 while the
second phase on February 26 this year, and the third on June 11.
Vietnam
also has several other vaccine candidates under development./.