Almost three months after Belarus agreed to buy the Cuban Sovereign Plus vaccine, this Wednesday the first batches of the drug arrived in the European country. According to the Twitter account of Finlay Institute of Vaccines of Havanaa “regulatory agency” also registered the Sovereign 02 for future use.
Belarus this July became the first country in Europe to approve the use of Cuban vaccines to immunize its citizens against covid-19. According to the new Cuban ambassador in Minsk, Santiago Perezthe news was enthusiastically received by the press, which argued that “Cuban vaccines have proven their effectiveness.”
The authorities of both countries have not given details about the amount of vaccines included in the agreement or about the amount paid by the Belarusian government.
In the case of Soberana Plus, it is conceived as a “booster” vaccine, and on the Island it has been applied after one of the other two national products, Soberana 02 and Abdala, or to patients recovered from the coronavirus.
Given the suspicions raised in the most critical sectors of the country by the purchase of a drug not approved by the World Health Organization, the authorities justified that “all the vaccines used [en Bielorrusia]regardless of the manufacturer, [han sido] registered and authorized for use, and they are highly effective and safe immunobiological drugs”.
“All vaccines used [en Bielorrusia] [han sido] registered and authorized for use and are highly effective and safe immunobiological drugs
A Cuban delegation at the Business Forum recently held in that country met with the Deputy Minister of Health, Dimitri Cherednichenko, to establish more links on issues of “drug production, professional exchanges and joint scientific research,” according to a note from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In July of this year, another delegation of Cuban officials visited Dimitry Vladimírovich, director of the Center for Expertise and Evidence of the Belarusian Ministry of Health. During the appointment, Vladimírovich presented Vicente Vérez Bencomo, director of the Finlay Institute, with the certificate that endorsed the use of Soberana Plus in his country.
On that occasion, the island’s officials took the opportunity to negotiate subsequent contracts with the Belarusian Minister of Health, Dmitry Pinevichswhich assessed “issues related to cooperation in the sphere of the circulation of medicines and medical products, in particular the location of Cuban medicines and vaccines in the territory of Belarus, as well as the possibility of exporting Belarusian pharmaceutical products to Cuba.”
On July 26, the day on which the agreement for the purchase of Soberana Plus was signed, the president of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, referred to the date in congratulations to Miguel Díaz-Canel, and assured him that “economic cooperation and business” of his Government with the Island was assured.
Like Iran, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Mexico, Belarus is part of the list of Cuba’s allies that opt for the purchase of the drug against covid-19. With the vaccines, the Island also sends the promise of political and even military support.
Not surprisingly, the sale of vaccines worldwide has been preceded by a propaganda campaign which has included concerts, academic events and diplomatic delegations at medical symposiums.
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