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Cuba hopes to deliver its experimental covid-19 vaccine to nearly the entire population of the capital, Havana, by the end of May.
But as this begins to kick in, the Sovereign 02 vaccine, which has yet to be fully certified, is already being administered to medical staff on the island.
Cuba began the final phase of testing for two of the five vaccines it is developing this month.
If successful, Sovereign 02 and Abdala could be the first covid vaccines to be developed in Latin America.
As part of the trials, authorities decided to vaccinate the 1.7 million inhabitants of Havana in May, Ileana Morales, director of science and technological innovation at the Ministry of Health, reported this week.
And the study also covers the vaccination, already launched, of 150,000 front-line health workers in the capital.
In a broadcast on public television, Morales indicated that approval will be sought in June for the emergency use of Soberana 02 and Abdala.
“With the approval of emergency use … we would be on the path to more mass vaccination of the population,” the official said.
The Cuban authorities are convinced that they will be able to vaccinate their entire population in 2021.
Will Grant, BBC Latin America correspondent
There was an atmosphere of optimism and relief among the first frontline health workers in Cuba to receive the island’s experimental vaccine, Soberana 02.
The vaccine, which is still officially in phase 3 of trials, represents Cuba’s main hope of lifting the lockdown in the capital, Havana, and starting to recover some of the lost economy, especially in the health sector. tourism.
Although the Sovereign is not yet fully certified as an official vaccine, authorities are so confident in its effectiveness that the process to administer it to 150,000 Cuban doctors, nurses and health workers is already underway.
Cuba has extensive experience in vaccine development, producing its own meningitis B vaccine in the late 1980s.
The number of infections and deaths from covid-19 is much lower in Cuba than in other parts of the world, but the lock-up has caused serious economic hardship.
The intention of the government is to vaccinate the population of Havana before the end of May.
However, the Communist government has come under fire for not ordering doses of some of the other coronavirus vaccines available, such as those from Russia or China, to begin protecting medical personnel during the development of the Sovereign vaccine.
But other parts of Latin America, particularly Venezuela, Mexico and Jamaica, have shown interest in vaccines developed in Cuba, which include at least two more in addition to the sovereign vaccine.
Sovereign 02
In the race for Cuba’s five vaccine candidates, Sovereign 02 appears to be in the lead.
It is a conjugate vaccine. This means that an antigen fuses with a carrier molecule to improve its stability and efficiency.
In this case, it involves binding a tetanus toxin to the protein with which the virus attaches to the cell.
In this way, when the virus tries to enter the cell using this protein, an immune reaction is generated against the toxin that carries the protein, thus blocking its entry into the cell.
Cuba hopes to have its sovereign vaccine.
In the first stage of the trials, Cuban scientists tested the application of the vaccine in two doses and, in some cases, adding a third dose of Soberana 01 as a booster.
Soberana 02 technology has already been used successfully in other vaccines made in Cuba.
Mass vaccination
Cuban authorities have indicated that mass vaccination for the entire population will begin with groups at highest risk, including those over 60 and health workers.
According to Ileana Morales, it is expected that by August six million people will receive the vaccine and that Cuba’s 11 million people will be vaccinated by the end of the year.
Cuba registers between 600 and 1,000 new cases a day, well above what was recorded for much of last year, according to Reuters data.
The worst outbreak of infection has occurred in the capital, with 292 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, against a national average of 103.5, reported Deputy Health Minister Carilda Peña.
But since the start of the pandemic, the country has reported 68,250 cases and 401 deaths, one of the lowest per capita rates in the world.
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