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Cuba approved its homemade Abdala coronavirus vaccine on Friday for emergency use.
The communist country is the first country in Latin America and the Caribbean to successfully develop a vaccine against the coronavirus.
Cuban health regulator CECMED approved the vaccine after manufacturers announced last month that their vaccine was over 92% effective against COVID-19 infections when three doses were given.
What are Cuban vaccines?
The Abdala vaccine is one of five vaccine candidates in total in Cuba, according to local authorities. Another, Soberana 2 bidose, should also soon be urgently authorized by CECMED.
Both vaccines must then be sent for approval to the World Health Organization.
Abdala and Soberana 2 both use a traditional approach using part of the virus’s spike protein to develop the immune response. Such vaccines do not require extremely low storage temperatures as mRNA vaccines typically do, making them easier to deploy. They are also cheaper to develop.
Cuba already produces 80% of the vaccines used in the country and exports some of them.
Iran, Argentina and Vietnam have expressed interest in producing Cuban vaccines. Jamaica and Mexico are two of the countries that are probably considering buying them.
What is the pandemic situation in Cuba?
Cuba’s COVID-19 cases hit a new high amid a surge caused by both beta and delta variants.
As of Friday, it recorded 6,422 cases, nearly double the number the day before.
However, mortality remained relatively low, with a death toll of less than 1,500.
About 1.5 million of the country’s 11.2 million people have been fully immunized to date. Cuba began vaccinating with Abdala and Soberana 2 in May while the two vaccines were still in clinical trials.
tj / rt (AFP, Reuters)
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