MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Cuban COVID-19 vaccine cleared for use in Mexico

Abdala is also used in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Iran and Vietnam.

Mexico's Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) has issued the green light Wednesday for the emergency use of the Cuban-developed Abdala vaccine against COVID-19.

Copefris Specialists found that Abdala, developed by the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Cuba, “meets the quality, safety and efficacy requirements necessary to be applied.” Abdala is said to be 92.28% effective after the third dose.

The Mexican agency also clarified that the Committee for New Molecules (CMN) met on the use of this biological agent, which received a favorable technical opinion from the experts. He added that the authorizations issued by the Commission are part of the National Health Regulation Strategy, which allows reviewing and giving access to the greatest number of health supplies, as long as the quality, safety and efficacy of the product are verified.

The state-run BioCubaFarma group Wednesday celebrated Mexico's decision. “With this approval, Mexico can import the Abdala vaccine, for use in the National Vaccination Policy against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in people over 19 years of age,” BioCubaFarma posted on Twitter.

In addition to Abdala, Cuba has two other formulas against Covid-19: Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus, which have been authorized for emergency use by Cuban authorities. The three Cuban drugs have an efficacy of over 90%, according to local agencies, but none of the them has been validated by the World Health Organization (WHO). Cuba is not a part of the WHO's Covax mechanism for low- and middle-income nations to purchase vaccines and decided not to buy them on the international market.

BioCubaFarma chairman Eduardo Martínez said the group planned to seek international recognition for their drugs, which apart from Cuba are only used in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Iran and Vietnam.

Abdala thus joined the list of vaccines already allowed within Mexico by Copefris: Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, CanSino Biologics, Sputnik V, Sinovac, Covaxin, Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), Moderna and Sinopharm.