Highly trained health professionals

Dr. Duong Huu Thai, director of the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC), will be part of a research team receiving training on the testing process and the recruitment of volunteers who will participate in the first phase of human trials for Covivac, the nation’s second potential COVID-19 vaccine. Ahead of the trials, Hanoi Medical University has prepared all necessary facilities for vaccine injections, volunteer monitoring, and emergency aid. The representative from the Hanoi Medical University stated that the clinical trial area will be located on the third floor of the university’s dormitory, while all accommodation, medicines, and equipment for human trials has been prepared in line with standards set out by the Ministry of Health. According to the schedule, volunteers will remain at the clinical trial area for a period of 24 hours after receiving their shots and will be subject to strict health observations by the research team. Covivac is a homegrown vaccine that has been researched and developed by IVAC. Indeed, it will be the nation’s second COVID-19 vaccine to be clinically tested on humans. The first shot of Covivac vaccine in the first phase of clinical trials will be given to volunteers by mid-March. According to the initial assessment, Covivac is effective against the new SARS-CoV-2 strain detected in the UK and South Africa. Moving forward, IVAC plans to offer the Covivac vaccine at a price of VND60,000 per dose. Meanwhile, as the first domestically-produced COVID-19 vaccine, Nanocovax, developed by Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC, has now moved onto its second phase of human trials. At present, another local vaccine researcher named the Vaccine and Biological Production Company (Vabiotech) is in the process of preparing to submit documents to participate in clinical trials. …

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The Lao Ministry of Health hopes to vaccinate 20 percent of its population against COVID-19 by the end of this year. - Illustrative image (Photo: Lao National Radio) Vientiane (VNA) - Some 150,000 medical workers in Laos will receive vaccination against COVID-19 in March and April, using 300,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine donated by China. According to Head of the Department of Hygiene and Health Promotion under Lao Ministry of Health Phonepaseuth Ounaphom, this vaccination programme is part of the COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control plan that the local health authorities are working hard to implement. People in high-risk groups between the ages of 18 and 60 will also be given priority in this plan, including medical personnel, the elderly, people with chronic illnesses, and migrant workers. The Lao Ministry of Health hopes to vaccinate 20 percent of its population against COVID-19 by the end of this year. The rate is expected to increase to 50 percent of the population by 2022 and 70 percent by 2023. Development partners of Laos have pledged to provide vaccines for the Southeast Asian country in accordance with its demand. The Lao authorities also consider buying more vaccines made in Germany, Japan and other countries after these vaccines are approved by regulatory authorities. The country also expects to get COVID-19 vaccine supplied via the global procurement mechanism of COVAX initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO). On March 2, Cambodia received a batch of 324,000 COVID-19 doses produced by India as part of the COVAX initiative. The country began its COVID-19 vaccination campaign on February 10 after receiving the first batch of vaccine from China  National  Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd (Sinopharm)./. VNA …

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Foreign ship arrivals down 6 percent in first two months Vietnam’s sea ports have berthed some 4,900 foreign vessels over the last two months, a decline of 6 percent year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Marine Administration. The fall was due largely to the impact of COVID-19, which is resulting in major fluctuations in the transport sector, a representative of the administration said. Despite the lower number of foreign ships, the volume of import and export goods through ports grew. In January and February, 35.3 million tonnes of imports and 26 million tonnes of exports were handled at ports nationwide. The former represented an annual increase of 14 percent while the latter was as same as that last year. In particular, nearly 1.3 million TEUs for exports and 1.2 million for imports were handled during the period, up 32 and 16 percent, respectively, year-on-year; the highest growth since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, the arrival of domestic vessels totalled 5,300, up 11 percent year-on-year./. Quang Ninh’s Van Don airport reopens on March 3 The Ministry of Transport has decided to allow Van Don International Airport in the northern province of Quang Ninh reopen from 6:01am on March 3 after the COVID-19 pandemic has been put under control in the locality and the airport is safe to transport passengers. The airport was temporarily shut down from January 29 after an airport security staff was confirmed positive for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes the COVID-19 pandemic. The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines announced earlier that it will resume flights between Ho Chi Minh City and Quang Ninh on March 3, thus becoming the first to restart flights to the Van Don airport since the local COVID-19 outbreak began. From March 3 to 17, one weekly flight will ply the route between the two destinations, on Wednesdays. Flight numbers will be increased to three a week, on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, from March 18 until the …

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