The vaccines were made with cell culture technology, which is a more efficient method than the traditional model of producing vaccines in fertilized chicken eggs, said deputy director Cao Thi Bao Van.

Van said samples had been tested on mice but that more clinical trials were needed before the vaccines could be put into mass production.

In the meantime, Vietnam is waiting for 1.2 million imported doses of the swine flu (H1N1) vaccine, sponsored by the World Health Organization, to arrive next month, according to Nguyen Tran Hien, head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology.

The country is also expected to import another 500,000 doses, but the arrival date has not been released.

Also on Thursday, the Ministry of Health reported that 39 people with H1N1 had died since the disease emerged here in May.

Thanh Nien - November 7, 2009