Additional 17 volunteers injected with Vietnamese COVID-19 vaccine

The people, who are among 60 volunteers selected for
the first phase human trial, each received a dose of 25mcg. They have been
under at the university for 72 hours.

The first three volunteers were vaccinated on December
17. They are now in stable conditions and under health monitoring in their
localities. The three will get the second jabs 28 days after the first
injection. 

The university is scheduled to increase the dose to
50mcg for three other volunteers.

Some 300-400 volunteers have so far registered for
the clinical trials of vaccine.

Developed by the Nanogen Pharmaceutical
Biotechnology JSC and the Vietnam Military Medical University, Nanocovax is
Vietnam’s first COVID-19 candidate vaccine to reach the human trial stage.

The test will last for 56 days from the day given of
the first injection. The participants will be under medical monitoring for six
months.

The Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC has
spent 20 billion VND (865,946 USD) buying a health insurance package for the
volunteers.

If the trials show good results, the drug-maker
plans to administer Nanocovax to the public in May 2021. 

Apart from Nanocovax, Vietnam has several other
COVID-19 candidate vaccines being developed by Vabiotech, Polyvac, and the
Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals.

Vietnam recorded six new imported COVID-19 cases on
December 22 evening, bringing the total number of infections in the country to
1,420.

The new patients included five Vietnamese citizens
returning home from Poland and Germany, and one Japanese expert.

Of the total, 693 are domestically-transmitted
cases, including 553 infections since the pandemic broke out in the central
city of Da Nang on July 25, according to the National Steering Committee for
COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

The subcommittee for treatment reported that 12 more
patients have given the all-clear from coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, taking the total
number of recoveries to 1,281. Meanwhile, the number of deaths related to the disease
remained at 35.

Among the patients undergoing treatment across the
country, six people tested negative for the virus once, 10 twice and four
thrice.

 As many
as 16,360 people who had close contact with COVID-19 patients or entered
Vietnam from pandemic-hit regions are currently quarantined nationwide,
including 187 in hospitals, 15,038  in
concentrated quarantine establishments and the remainders at their
residences./.