Vietnam will start manufacturing human-use vaccines against bird flu virus strain H5N1 in late 2006 with initial annual capacity of 2-3 million doses, an official in charge of hygiene and epidemiology told Xinhua Tuesday.

A human-use H5N1 vaccine production line has already been installed at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the official from the institute said on a condition of anonimity.

A dose of locally-made H5N1 vaccines is estimated to cost around 30,000 Vietnamese dong (nearly 1.9 U.S. dollars). The institute's initial vaccine production capacity is able to serve some 1 million people.

Vietnam has detected 93 bird flu patients, including 42 fatalities, in 32 localities since the disease started to hit the country in December 2003, the Health Ministry said on Feb. 24, noting that it has seen no new human cases of infections since mid- November 2005.

Source: Xinhua