The intensity of COVID-19 has initially “cooled down” in many nations around the world after the vaccination campaign has been deployed on a large scale. However, in some EU member states the situation remains serious and the EU is struggling to overcome the third wave of the pandemic. Contrary to the trend of easing social distancing, Hungary, France and the Czech Republic are the European countries tending to tighten prevention and control measures as the number of infections has increased recently. Statistics show that, while most Western European countries have recorded a declining or stable number of cases, about 100-200 per one million people per day, the figure is at around 300 in France and more than 600 in the Czech Republic. French Health Minister Olivier Véran stated that in the next four to six weeks, France will maintain a nightly curfew and lockdown measures such as closing pubs, restaurants and museums, in a bid to protect the pandemic prevention and control efforts. Meanwhile, Gergely Gulyas, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, said that Hungary has decided to extend a partial lockdown with infections expected to rise in the next two weeks. He highlighted that the next two weeks will be particularly difficult as the country must cope with the third COVID-19 wave. The Czech Republic and Hungary have taken measures to increase vaccine availability for the COVID-19 vaccination campaign amidst many opinions arguing that the EU’s licensing process is too slow. Relatively strict control measures in response to the pandemic have also been maintained in Germany. German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently emphasised that Germany is still in the third wave of the pandemic, while a local health official warned that without the maintenance of current measures, the third wave will be extremely difficult, and even uncontrollable. A major problem currently facing the EU countries is that despite the complicated development of the pandemic, the …
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Volunteers sought for second locally made COVID-19 vaccine trials
US symposium features life, career of President Hồ Chí Minh Party, State leaders pay tribute to President Hồ Chí Minh Special stamp released to commemorate President Hồ Choosing the perfect place for Uncle Hồ’s statue Tree-planting campaigns launched to mark President Hồ Chí Minh’s birthday Volunteers for Việt Nam's second COVID-19 vaccine, COVIVAC, apply for human trial participation at Hà Nội Medical University on Friday. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyết HÀ NỘI — Volunteers aged from 18-59 and living in Hà Nội, can register for human trials of Việt Nam’s second COVID-19 vaccine candidate COVIVAC from Friday morning. In the first phase,150 healthy volunteers will be injected with two 5ml doses over 28 days. They will be divided into five groups, including one group provided with placebo shots, and their health will be closely monitored within 24 hours after injections. Each volunteer will have their health checked up to eight times in 12 months. After 43 days since the first phase starts and shows good results, the second phase will be carried out at the medical centre of Thái Bình Province’s Vũ Thư District, with 300 volunteers. The homegrown vaccine has been developed by the Nha Trang-based Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC) and the Hà Nội Medical University since last May, using primary chicken embryo cell culture, a technique the institute used previously to successfully produce seasonal flu vaccines. COVIVAC has undergone pre-clinical trials in India, the US, and Việt Nam, said IVAC Director Dr. Dương Hữu Thái, adding that results showed that it satisfies all conditions to be tested on humans. The vaccine candidate demonstrated high immunogenicity during pre-clinical trials. It was created based on studies of new SARS-CoV-2 strains. This vaccine is expected to cost around VNĐ60,000 (US$2.59) per dose. Volunteers can register to participate in the trial at the Hà Nội Medical …
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