Covid-19: Cuban vaccines Soberana 2 and Abdala in final phase of testing
Audio 01:19
Cuba: Havana schools in times of coronavirus (archive March 2020).
Corbis via Getty Images - VIEW press
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5 mins
Boats, motorcycles and even paragliders in the colors of Cuba to say "No to the American embargo!"
This Sunday, June 20, the Cubans demonstrated again with fanfare against the blockade imposed for more than sixty years on the island.
But if this major communication campaign intended for US President Joe Biden does not seem to bear fruit, it is an opportunity for Cubans to show their pride in having succeeded in developing an anti-Covid vaccine.
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with our correspondent in Havana,
Domitille Piron
A vaccine despite the embargo!
Beyond the usual rhetoric against the American blockade this Sunday, June 20 in Matanzas, for Cubans like Reynier Toledo Gomez, this demonstration was also an opportunity to express their pride.
“
Despite being a third world country and a country under embargo, we have to believe in it and today we see the result of the work of our undisputed leader Fidel Castro when he delivered education and free health! ”
#CubaViva: Desde la bella bahía de #Matanzas, a justo reclamo that recorre el mundo: # NoMásBloqueo criminal e inhumano de #EstadosUnidos contra Cuba🇨🇺.
#EliminaElBloqueo # TambiénEsUnVirus @IcrtCuba @radio_cubana @tv_cubana @ radio26cu @TelevisionMtz #UnblockCuba #PuentesDeAmor pic.twitter.com/0aHicFpRny
- Alfonso Noya Martínez🇨🇺 (@alfonso_noya) June 20, 2021
The Soberana 2 vaccine, designed by the Finlay Institute for Vaccines, reaches 62% effectiveness after the second dose (of the three planned), according to the Cuban authorities, when the WHO recommends 50%.
Soberana 02: 62% eficacia in esquema de dos dosis, pendientes resultados con dosis de Soberana Plus.
https://t.co/i7cW0LhZJ1 @cubadebatecu
- BioCubaFarma (@BioCubaFarma) June 20, 2021
It is therefore on the verge of being officially considered as a vaccine, which delights the young medical student Claudia Rodriguez.
"
It's a dream come true, we can finally say that we have a vaccine, Soberana 02, and 4 other vaccine candidates (...)
"
Some 40% of the population has already received a first dose of Soberana or Abdala.
"
We think we will become the first fully immunized Latin American country, for us it is a success and we are proud (…)
", welcomes Pedro Perez of the Federation of Students.
Cuba has been working for thirteen months on five candidate vaccines, two of which, Soberana 02 and Abdala, have completed the third and final phase of testing.
The results, evaluated by an independent committee of Cuban specialists, will be submitted to the regulatory authority to "make the official request for authorization for emergency use" of the vaccine in the coming weeks, Yuri Valdez told Agence France Presse. , Deputy Director of the Finlay Institute.
The blockade is also a deadly virus, chants the announcer, but visibly against it the Cubans have not yet found the antidote ...
(and with AFP)
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