Hanoi (VNA) - Six out of 120 volunteers have been injected with Vietnam’s secondhomegrown candidate vaccine COVIVAC, as human trials began at the Hanoi MedicalUniversity on March 15.

Expressing hisdelight at the event, Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan said theministry will send working delegations to monitor related research and the outcomesof the trial’s first phase, to ensure the safety of volunteers.

The 120 healthy volunteersin the first phase have been divided into five groups, including one to receiveplacebo shots, and will have their health monitored closely for 24 hours afterinjections.

Each volunteerwill have their health checked eight times over a period of 12 months.

Following the sixinjected on March 15, the remainders will take turns being inoculated untilApril 20. All volunteers will receive their second shots 28 days after thefirst.

A report on theoutcomes of the first phase is expected to be completed in July. If the vaccinemeets standards on safety and effectiveness, the second phase will be carriedout at the medical centre in Thai Binh province’s Vu Thu district with a largernumber of volunteers.

Developed by theInstitute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC) since last May, COVIVAC isthe result of cooperation between IVAC and a number of partners, including theHanoi Medical University, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in NewYork City, the University of Texas in Austin, and the US-based health organisationPATH.

Using primarychicken embryo cell culture - a technique the institute used previously tosuccessfully produce seasonal flu vaccines - it is the second Made-in-Vietnamcandidate vaccine tested on humans.

The NanogenPharmaceutical Biotechnology Company earlier completed the first phase of humantrials of its NanoCovax vaccine and began the second phase on February 26./.