The Cuban vaccines Abdala, Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus against the SARS-Cov-2 virus, which causes COVID-19received this Saturday the health registration from the Center for State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (Cecmed), according to reported official media of the island.
In this way, “the emergency use authorizations granted to drugs during the pandemic are without effect,” Olga Lidia Jacobo, director of Cecmed, said this Saturday in a meeting with the developers and producers of Cuban vaccines held at the Palace of Conventions of Havana.
According to the Cuban News Agencythe director of the regulatory authority in the country explained that after concluding the evaluation of the dossiers presented by the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology and the Finlay Institute of Vaccines, “they considered that the immunogens meet the requirements established in terms of demonstration quality, safety and efficacy.
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At the meeting, Elba Rosa Pérez, Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment, granted the status of a High Technology Company to the Finlay Vaccine Institute, the report itself pointed out.
Likewise, it specifies that in the meeting “the main institutions of the country that participated in the development and production of immunogens and the legacy of the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, the main architect of Cuban biotechnology, were recognized.”
Cuba began clinical trials with its vaccine candidates in March 2021 with volunteer subjects from Havana, Santiago de Cuba, Granma and Guantánamo, and that same month an intervention study was carried out with health workers, BioCubaFarma and groups of risk. In the two processes, more than 720 thousand doses of Abdala, Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus were administered.
Subsequently, in May 2021 the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba (Minsap) approved a health intervention with Abdala and Soberana 02 in territories and risk groups selected by stages, which received more than 9 million doses.
Cuba among the ten countries with the highest coverage with vaccines against COVID-19
Shortly after, in July of the same year, the vaccines received the Emergency Use Authorization issued by Cecmed and then began the process of mass vaccination in the population over 19 years of age in territories with epidemiological risk and risk groups at the level of all provinces, as well as in the pediatric population.
According to data of the Minsap updated until last Thursday, May 18, during the mass vaccination stage, more than 33 million doses have been administered in Cuba, with more than 6 million people with the complete scheme of 3 doses and more than 8 million with doses reinforcement.
In total, at the end of May 18, 44 million 362 664 doses of Abdala, Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus have been administered in Cuba, adding clinical trials and mass vaccination. MINSAP studies ensure that 90.7% of the population has a complete vaccination scheme, a figure that places Cuba among the 10 countries with the most immunized citizens against the coronavirus in the world.
