Volunteers in homegrown Covivac vaccine feel ‘confident and proud’

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One volunteer getting Covivac injection in Hanoi on March 15 morning (Photo: VNE)

The 6 recipients, including 3 males and 3 females – all with eligible health conditions and blood tests - were randomly injected with either placebo or Covivac vaccine. They stayed at Hanoi Medical University for another 24 hours for further monitoring and prompt treatment of possible severe post-vaccination injection.

“For me, this is a beneficial activity for the society and community. I’m a blood donor already and there’s no reason not to volunteer for the trial”, one female volunteer who wanted to stay anonymous, told VNE. “30 mins after the injection, I’m in stable health condition without any side effects except for a mild pain at the injection site”.

A 46-year-old volunteer said her daughter had encouraged her to sign up for the trial. “My daughter said this is a very meaningful activity, thus the three of us, me, my husband and my daughter registered for the human trials”, she was quoted as saying.

However, her spouse and her daughter were not healthy enough for the injection, leaving her the only one to join the trial on March 15.

Her health condition was stable in 30 mins after getting the vaccine. The doctors’ attentive care and dedication had reassured her.

“When I said I was going to get the Covivac jabs in its human trials, people were kind of apprehensive. For me, I just thought if everyone hesitates for the jab, when would Vietnam’s vaccine be rolled out?”, she said.

A researcher (L) informs a volunteer about the Covivac vaccine trials at the Hanoi Medical University. Photo: VnExpress.

The first phase of the human trials of Covivac vaccine, expected to end on April 20, involves 120 volunteers. The remaining 144 people will be divided into groups of 12-18. Each group is scheduled to receive the vaccine 8 days apart.

All recipients will be injected with two doses of Covivac, 28 days apart.

“I’m glad to see such an important milestone in the research and development process of the so-called made-in-Vietnam COVID-19 vaccine, which is carried out by an affiliated unit of the Ministry of Health”, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan said.

The Covivac vaccine is the research work of the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC) under the Ministry of Health (MOH). It had earlier yielded safe results and strong immunity responses on mice, rabbits, etc. Given promising results on animals, the vaccine is granted to enter human trials starting January, two months earlier than expected.

“If all three trial phases yield good results, Vietnam might have the vaccine in late 2021”, Thai said. “IVAC has an edge in the production process thanks to its available infrastructure, technology, and decade-long experience in producing flu vaccines”, Dr. Duong Huu Thai, Director of IVAC said.

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