COVID-19 vaccine trials have been taken on 12 rhesus macaques, a kind of monkey of the Macaca mulatta family. (Photo: dantri.com.vn) Hanoi (VNA) - COVID-19 vaccine testing has begun on monkeys in Vietnam.
The Vaccine and Biological Production Company (Vabiotech) under the Ministry of Health started trials on 12 rhesus macaques, a kind of monkey of the Macaca mulatta family.
The trials took place on Reu Island off the northern province of Quang Ninh.
Vu Cong Long, head of the Animal Breeding Farm at the Centre for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biologicals under the Ministry of Health, confirmed tests were carried out on October 27.
Vabiotech Director Do Tuan Dat said the monkeys are aged between three and five and weigh more than three kilograms each. They had their health checked and are not infected with any diseases, he said.
After being vaccinated, the monkeys will be monitored for three months. Then, their blood samples will be taken and sent to Hanoi for further analysis.
The monkeys will be tested in two periods. In each period, they will be divided into two groups, with one being vaccinated and the other not vaccinated. After that, they will be monitored daily on separate islands.
The testing will follow a similar model that may be performed on people. The animals will be injected with the vaccine twice, with the shots being 18-21 days apart.
A month after the second shot, researchers will assess their immune response to see the effects between the injected and non-injected groups.
In June, Vabiotech tested the vaccine on mice.
A representative data was collected from the mice tests and scientists will continue testing the vaccine on other animals.
The results of the testing on monkeys will be a foundation for the next stage and proposal to test the vaccine on people./.
VNA
