How does Abdala, the Cuba-approved COVID-19 vaccine work, and how effective is it?

Yesterday, Cuba approved emergency use of Cuban vaccine against coronavirus Abdala, than in their clinical trials showed an efficiency of 92.2%. The only information available from Abdala is what Cuba has offered so far, since no scientific journal has published studies on this subject. It has also not been approved by the Health Organization or any recognized health regulatory body outside the island.

Cuba’s State Control Center for Drugs, Equipment and Medical Devices (CECMED) awarded the “authorization for emergency use of Cuban coronavirus vaccine Abdala, with the requirements and parameters required in terms of quality, safety and efficiency for this type of procedure“CECMED said in a statement.

In this sense, he stressed that the vaccinator “has demonstrated efficacy in the prevention of symptomatic forms of the disease of 92.28%, as well as an adequate safety profile, supported by the number of doses applied in the clinical trials carried out ”.

Cuba said that Soberana 02 and Abdala used technology known as “Subunit vaccine” in which they use proteins derived from the virus “conjugated” to other carrier proteins to trigger an immune response. In the first case they bind the virus antigen to tetanus toxoid and aluminum hydroxide and in the second they use culture in yeast cells.

But what does this achievement, the first for a Latin American country, mean?

Cuba has extensive experience in vaccine development and for over three decades, it has created much of the vaccines it uses for its people. With the onset of the coronavirus, the island devoted itself to developing a safe and effective vaccine to combat it. In fact, he has developed five formulas against COVID-19, but Abdala was the first yesterday to reach the vaccine category. it’s a vaccine subunit with a three-dose intramuscular administration schedule in 28 days and was created by the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.

Upon receipt of the green light for your emergency use, Abdala moves from vaccine candidate to officially recognized vaccine, making the first of its kind to be developed in Latin America.

The note from the regulatory authority indicates that a “rigorous evaluation process of the submitted dossierWhich included inspections of factories involved in the production process. It was also decided to start “data obtained in the Phase I and Phase II clinical trials (already concluded) and the Phase III clinical trial (in progress), which showed a efficiency in the prevention of symptomatic forms of the disease of 92.28%, as well as an adequate security profile ”.

Abdala, along with the other most advanced vaccine in Cuba called Soberana 02, is being administered massively on the island as part of a model called health intervention, with volunteers from groups at risk, such as health workers, and in territories with the highest transmission of the virus in provinces such as Havana, Santiago de Cuba or Matanzas.

In the case of Sovereign 02, the yield is 91.2% when two doses are combined with a third of Soberana Plus, according to the Finlay Institute, also responsible for the world’s first vaccine against meningococcus B in 1989. From the laboratory that developed these inoculants they anticipated that “in the next few days” They will send the dossier to the regulatory body to get the same green light Abdala got today. Cuba expects to vaccinate 70% of its population in August and 100% by the end of the year, despite the blockade imposed by the United States which includes medical supplies, and become the first country in the world to immunize its entire population with its own vaccines. At the start of the pandemic, the Cuban government decided not to participate in the Covax mechanism, which aims to bring approved vaccines to the poorest countries, but instead opted for develop your own assays.

According to data provided on Tuesday, about 6.8 million Cubans had received at least one dose of Abdala or Soberana 02, and 1.6 million had already received the three doses involved in the full regimen. In addition to being applied in Cuba, the vaccines have been exported to Venezuela where they will also be produced. Several countries in the region have expressed interest in acquiring it, including Argentina.

Abdala’s approval comes as the country faces a sharp increase in cases, with a new 24-hour infection record on Friday: 6,422 cases, including 28 deaths. “Good news one day with the worst national Covid-19 statistics. A light at the end of the tunnel of this long-distance race against the pandemic, ”Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said on his Twitter account.

In total, the island of 11.2 million people reported 224,798 positive and 1,459 deaths. On Wednesday, authorities urgently sent doctors, equipment and medical supplies to the tourist province of Matanzas, where hospitals are overwhelmed. Cuban television showed footage of the hospital in the city of Cárdenas, 150 kilometers east of Havana, whose hallways are full of stretchers, while a local company was commissioned to manufacture new beds. , AFP news agency reported. In this context, a citizen campaign was launched on social networks to send donations to health workers and patients in this region, and the president visited this province, accompanied by several ministers.

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