Vietnam's homemade vaccines struggle to debut as COVID rages

HANOI -- As COVID-19 ravages Vietnam and foreign vaccines continue to be in short supply, the government is ramping up efforts to accelerate the development of domestic vaccines. But the debut of the first Vietnamese vaccine may be pushed back beyond this month as health authorities take extra care to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines.

The debut in September of Nanocovax, the front-runner COVID-19 vaccine project in Vietnam, has become uncertain after Vietnam's National Ethics Committee in Biomedical Research issued a statement on Sunday. It said the committee would send vaccine documents to the Advisory Council for the Registration of Circulation of Drugs and Medicinal Ingredients for review.