Venezuelan Academy of Medicine expresses concern over Cuban vaccine use

CARACAS, Sept. 27 (Reuters) – The Venezuelan National Academy of Medicine expressed concern on Monday over the use of Cuban coronavirus vaccine Abdala due to the lack of scientific research into its safety and effectiveness.

Cuba said on Saturday it had exported the three-shot vaccine for the first time, sending a first shipment to Vietnam under a contract to deliver five million doses to the Southeast Asian country.

The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has so far relied on Russian Sputnik V and Chinese Sinopharm vaccines, and in recent months has received its first delivery of doses via the global COVAX program.

“The characteristics of the Sputnik V vaccine have been published in scientific journals and its quality has been verified in independent clinical trials… (and) the Sinopharm vaccine has been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO),” said the academy in a statement.

“Abdala has not been approved by the WHO or any international regulatory body.”

Venezuela received its first batch of 30,000 doses of Abdala in June in clinical trials, and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Sunday that another batch had been sent, without confirming the number of vaccines shipped.

The academy “expresses its deep concern that a product for which there is no scientific information on safety and efficacy (…) is administered to Venezuelans”, added the academy.

Cuban scientists have developed three local COVID-19 vaccines, all of which are awaiting official recognition following a WHO assessment, according to island officials.

Maduro says about 40% of the country’s estimated 28 million people have been vaccinated and that figure is expected to rise to 70% by October. Venezuelan doctors questioned the figure.

As of Sunday, the country had reported a total of 363,300 infections and 4,412 deaths.

Reporting by Vivian Sequera Writing by Brian Ellsworth Editing by Nick Macfie

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