Vietnam to purchase 10 million doses of Cuban COVID-19 vaccine
VOV.VN - The Government has approved a Vietnamese pharmaceutical firm’s proposal to purchase 10 million doses of the Abdala COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) in Cuba.
In a resolution adopted on September 20, the Government assigned the Ministry of health (MoH) to select bidders in a special case to get the vaccine as soon as possible for the national vaccination drive which is underway nationwide.
The MoH on September 18 conditionally adopted Cuba’s Abdala COVID-19 vaccine for domestic use in Vietnam.
Abdala has been developed by the CIGB and manufactured by the AICA Laboratories Company and Base Business Unit (BBU) AICA in Cuba.
Each 0.5ml dose of the Abdala vaccine has 50mcg of recombinant protein vaccine containing the receptor-binding region (RBG) of the COVID-19 virus, which is prepared in the form of a suspension for intramuscular injection.
The Abdala vaccine is packaged in a box of 10 vials, each containing 10 doses with 0.5 ml per dose.
Its approval for use locally comes after the Centre for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biologicals (POLYVAC) based in Hanoi requested that the MoH permit the vaccine to be used in the country.
Abdala is the eighth COVID-19 vaccine that has been approved for emergency use in Vietnam.
Earlier, the MoH has licensed AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, Janssen (Johnson&Johnson), Moderna (Spikevax), Pfizer (Comirnaty), Sinopharm (Vero Cell) and Hayat Vax.
