Vietnam, facing a severe outbreak of coronavirus, this became the first country in approving the emergency use of the Abdala anticovid vaccine, developed by Cuba, coinciding with the beginning of an official visit to the island of its president, announced the state-run BioCubaFarma.
“Based on a rigorous evaluation of the Abdala vaccine dossier, the Vietnam Medicines Control Authority issued the Authorization for the Emergency Use of the Cuban immunogen“BioCubaFarma, a state group of scientific institutions, said on Twitter.
In addition to Abdala, two other vaccines against covid-19 have been developed by Cuba: Sovereign 02, whose emergency use was already approved in Iran in July, and Soberana Plus.
The announcement coincided with the arrival this Saturday to the Cuban capital of the Vietnamese president, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, for an official visit of three days, during which he will meet with his counterpart Miguel DÃaz-Canel and visit the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) in Havana, author of Abdala, according to local media.
The Ho Chi Minh monument in Havana, Cuba. Reuters photo
In a telephone conversation on August 23, Nguyen and DÃaz-Canel expressed their “willingness to continue strengthening (…) bilateral cooperation in all spheres,” according to the official press at the time.
Effectiveness
A day later, the Vietnamese press highlighted that Cuba would send a “large number” to that country of doses of the Abdala vaccine and that it would also transfer the necessary technology to produce it.
According to Cuban scientists, both Abdala and Soberana 02 have a efficiency greater than 90% against the appearance of symptoms of the disease.
Cuban vaccines are based into a recombinant protein, the same technique in which the American company Novavax and the French Sanofi are working.
A woman receives the Abdala vaccine in Cuba. Reuters photo
Cuba began on Thursday exchanges with experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) for the recognition of Abdala and Soberana 02, a process that will facilitate the marketing of both immunizers in other countries, according to BioCubaFarma.
Even without the recognition of the WHO, some countries such as Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico have shown interest in Cuban vaccines.
Very affected by the slowness in its vaccination campaign, Vietnam, designated in 2020 as an exemplary country in the fight against the pandemic thanks to a strict quarantine policy and monitoring of infected people, is currently experiencing a severe outbreak of the disease.
Gratitude
The president of Vietnam thanked this Sunday in Havana the “disposition” of Cuba to transfer to his country the technology to produce the Abdala anticovid vaccine.
“Thank you very much, Cuba (…) for the willingness to cooperate to Abdala’s production in Vietnam“Nguyen said this Sunday during a meeting with Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, according to state television.
Marta Ayala, director of the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) in Havana, which created the Abdala vaccine, explained this Sunday to AFP that “work continues on the process of technology transfer of the final stage of Abdala with Vietnam “.
If the agreement is finalized, Vietnam would be the first country outside of Cuba to produce this vaccine, whose emergency use it approved on Saturday, coinciding with the arrival of its president in Havana until Monday.
In the framework of the visit, the CIGB and the Center for Research and Production of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (POLYVAC) of Vietnam signed a memorandum of understanding on Saturday with a view to “expand your relationships, collaborating on other topics of mutual interest, such as dengue, Zika “.
Source: AFP and EFE
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