Venezuelan Academy of Medicine warned of possible risks of Cuban vaccine testing against COVID-19

The The Venezuelan Academy of Medicine has expressed concern at dictator Nicolás Maduro’s announcement of the arrival of 60,000 doses from Cuba for a phase of clinical trials against the coronavirus, since the tests of candidate vaccines in which the country participates must guarantee compliance with ethical and scientific criteria, he warned in a statement.

In April, experimental testing of Soberana 02 and Abdala, vaccine candidates produced in Cuba, will begin. “Vaccines are products that have been shown to be safe and effective in phase 3 trials usually conducted on human volunteers in the country of origin of the vaccine. The candidate vaccines are investigational products whose safety and efficacy have to be determined, ”the organization said in a statement.

In a televised address, The Chavist dictator has announced that 30,000 units of each of these vaccines will arrive in the country for application in the third and final phase of the trials, as happened with the Russian Sputnik V., who chose Venezuela as the first country in America for his studies.

“The candidate vaccines Soberana 02 and Abdala are experimental products that are just beginning to be evaluated in Cuba. What little we know comes from journalistic information emanating from the island. These products, although based on the same concept that has been used in other successful vaccines against COVID (induction of immunity against the protein on the surface of the virus), use old methodologies that have not been proven. in the case of COVID-19 ″, warned the Medical Academy of Venezuela.

The experimental tests of Soberana 02 and Abdala began to be tested in March in Cuba in a population of approximately 44,000 volunteers each product. The Phase 3 experiments would last until mid-June on the Caribbean island.

“This type of phase 3 trial requires about half of the volunteers to receive the vaccine and the other half to receive a placebo injection, in order to conclude that the vaccine is safe and effective. Although these products are listed in the database of the World Health Organization, the information is incomplete or inaccessible. For example, the results of phase 1-2 which would indicate to us whether the products are capable of inducing in humans a level and a quality of antibodies capable of conferring protection against the virus are not known, ”he explained. ‘organization.

In a previous statement, The Academy of Medicine has stressed that it is “of particular importance” to ensure “that citizens do not confuse access to a vaccine whose safety and effectiveness are recognized, by participating as a volunteer in an experimental phase of a vaccine candidate ”.

“Carrying out the two activities in parallel can create confusion and compromise the effectiveness of a national vaccination plan against covid-19,” they stress.

The Academy declared that the Chavist dictatorship “instead of participating in the testing of experimental products with unknown characteristics”, it must provide the country with vaccines recognized for their harmlessness and effectiveness.

With information from EFE

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