Vietnam's government has registered to buy up to 150 million doses Russia's Covid-19 vaccine currently in development, reported Reuters.
The decision was announced only days after Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had declared that the Southeast Asian country was in a critical period in regards to a new Covid-19 outbreak.
Vaccine rolled out without Phase III testing
Russia's vaccine was announced by President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 11.
At the time, Putin had stated that it was — to his knowledge — the "first vaccine against the novel coronavirus infection in the world" to be registered.
However, the vaccine has been in human trials for less than two months. And Phase 3 trials -- mass testing involving thousands of human subjects -- have yet to take place.
According to the BBC, which cited data from the World Health Organization (WHO), Russia's Sputnik-V vaccine is not on the list of six vaccines around the world that are undergoing Phase 3 testing.
According to Reuters, Russia's vaccine is set to be rolled out within two weeks.
Experts have expressed concern over the vaccine's rapid approval, including the Moscow-based Association of Clinical Trials Organizations (Acto), which represents the world's top drug companies in Russia.
Acto urged the health ministry to postpone approval until after Phase 3 trials. However, Russian authorities have dismissed concerns over the vaccine's rapid approval.
Citing local media, Reuters reported that Vietnam had signed up to buy 50 to 150 million doses of Russia's vaccine, with some being donated by Russia.
There was no timeline set on when the Southeast Asian country would receive the vaccine, nor were any details given on how much it would cost. Vietnam's health ministry said that they would continue to work on developing their own Covid-19 vaccine.
A new outbreak in Vietnam
While Vietnam had seen success in handling the virus earlier this year, they are now in the midst of a race to contain a new outbreak linked to the popular holiday city of Da Nang.
After 99 straight days of with any local transmissions, cases suddenly surged at the end of July, according to the BBC.
While the number of confirmed cases within the country had hovered around 400 in July, Vietnam now has over 900 Covid-19 infections.
The new outbreak also saw the country's first Covid-19 deaths; the New York Times reports that the death toll in Vietnam currently stands at 21.
New cases are springing up in multiple locations, with the capital city of Hanoi worryingly recording one infection with no clear link to the epicentre in Da Nang.
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Top image by Tran Phu via Unsplash