Cuba says Abdala coronavirus vaccine almost 93 percent effective

World

Published: 2021-06-22 20:59

Last Updated: 2024-03-27 16:46


Cuba says Abdala coronavirus vaccine almost 93 percent effective
Cuba says Abdala coronavirus vaccine almost 93 percent effective

Monday, Cuba announced its three-dose 'Abdala' vaccine against COVID-19 is 92.28 percent effective, as revealed in final stage clinical trials.

The announcement came days after the Cuban government said another local vaccine, called 'Soberana 2,' had proved 62 percent effective with just two of its three doses.

On Twitter, Cuban President, Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote, "Hit by the pandemic, our scientists at the Finlay Institute and Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology have risen above all the obstacles and given us two very effective vaccines.”

"The announcement came from state-run biopharmaceutical corporation BioCubaFarma, which oversees Finlay, the maker of Soberana 2, and the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, the producer of Abdala," according to Reuters.

Both of the jabs are expected to be given emergency use authority by Cuban regulators soon.

The Carribeean country's biotech sector has been exporting vaccines in general for multiple years, and has five potential coronavirus vaccine candidates.

Notably, countries such as Argentina, Jamaica, Mexico, Vietnam and Venezuela have expressed increasing interest in purchasing Cuban vaccines.

Notably, in the Middle East, Iran started producing Soberana 2 in early 2021 as part of clinical trials.

Cuban health officials have already started using the vaccines nationwide as part of “intervention studies” they hope will halt COVID-19 transmissibility.

In the country, around a million of the 11.2 population has been fully immunized against the virus.

Reuters cited official data, noting that daily cases have been cut in half in Cuba's capital, Havana, since the beginning of the vaccine roll-out using the Abdala jab.

The country has recorded a total of 169,365 COVID-19 cases and 1,170 deaths.