Vietnam approves Cuban vaccine Abdala, all set to start roll-out

Vietnam has approved Cuba Abdala vaccination for use against the new COVID-19, the government said on Saturday as the Southeast Asian country struggles with its worst outbreak.

Abdala approved the eighth COVID-19 vaccine for use in Vietnam, which has one of the lowest immunisation rates in the region, with only 6.3 percent of its 98 million people taking the two shots.

The statement came hours after President Nguyen Xuan Phuc left Hanoi for an official travel to Havana.

Vietnam recorded 667,650 coronavirus infections and 16,637 deaths, the vast majority in the Delta variant-driven outbreak as of late April.

"The Ministry of Health has now approved the Abdala vaccination, based on the urgent need of the country for its COVID-19 fight," the government said in a statement.

The ministry said last month that Cuba would supply large quantities of Abdala vaccines to Vietnam and transfer production technology by the end of the year.

Vietnam and Cuba are among the only five communist-ruled nations in the world, along with China, Laos and North Korea.

In July, Vietnam called on the United States to end its "hostile policy" against Cuba and lift its long-standing trade embargo following rare anti-government protests on the island.

Cuba previously said its three-shot Abdala vaccination against the coronavirus proved 92.28 percent effective.