Cuba plans responsible export of vaccines, Cuban minister assures

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 12 (ACN) Rodrigo Malmierca, Cuban minister of foreign trade and investment, said today that Cuba is holding negotiations to safely export the Abdala vaccine and the other anti-COVID-19 vaccine candidates created by Cuban scientists.

In his speech from the Palace of the Revolution, he assured that the Cuban Government is committed to comply with the contracts signed and to maintain the sustained production of vaccines, to ensure coverage to the Cuban people and those needed to trade abroad.

Two supply contracts were signed with Venezuela and Iran and negotiations with Argentina, Vietnam, Namibia and Nicaragua.

Malmierca stated that the export of immunogens has been conceived jointly with the BioCubaFarma Business Group, under the premise of the solidarity vocation that Cuba has maintained for decades.

Regarding the request for humanitarian intervention in Cuba, as part of the unconventional war being waged against the country, he explained that there are all the mechanisms to cooperate with the island, which allow governments, companies, international organizations of the United Nations system and individuals to provide assistance to the nation.

The economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States is the main obstacle for humanitarian aid to reach the country, said Malmierca, while recognizing the efforts of the Cuban community abroad to send donations in an organized manner, through consulates and embassies.

With the outbreak of the pandemic, we developed a special procedure, through which more than 500 offers of help have been received, most of them medicines and expendable material for the confrontation of the COVID-19, the official affirmed.

Finally, he exemplified that the joint venture company MCV Comercial, which has donated ambulances to the health system in the past, is sending another 26 Mercedes Benz ambulances, a sign of the willingness of foreign entities to help the country.