Half the volunteers have received first dose of Soberana 02 in its Phase III

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 24 (ACN) Around 22 thousand people have been immunized as part of Phase III of the clinical trial of the Soberana 02 vaccine candidate, almost half of the population foreseen in that study, said Vicente Vérez Bencomo, general director of the Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV).

The doctors said that, on the other hand, the intervention study with this anti-COVID-19 drug proposal, without the use of placebo, advances with the purpose of measuring the indirect impact in population cohorts at risk of infection, disease and virus dispersion.

However, he stressed that they are still working to settle the debt with the pediatric population, in view of which they are working on a vaccine candidate; likewise, they are not neglecting the application of Soberana Plus for convalescents and the trials of Soberana 01, planned to be carried out in Cienfuegos.

In general, the executive summarized that the three Soberanas have demonstrated their safety so far, and Soberana 02 in particular evidences a greater immunity process in the subjects.

He emphasized that all of them are vaccine candidates, and are going through the pertinent processes to demonstrate their effectiveness in different states: infection with the virus and the development of the disease; and the most important aspects to be evaluated are the direct or indirect protection against SARS-CoV-2.

Vérez Bencomo acknowledged the volunteers participating in the clinical trials, thanks to whose efforts it will be possible for the vaccine candidates to eventually become vaccines suitable for application.

He also highlighted the work of the hundreds of health workers involved in this research, who have given their all to achieve the current favorable results.

Two Cuban vaccine candidates against COVID-19 have entered the decisive Phase III of their clinical trials: Soberana 02 and Abdala, in which more than 90,000 Cubans from four provinces are already participating.

Another 150,000 will join in the coming weeks in the authorized intervention trial in at-risk groups, among them some 70,000 scientists and health workers throughout the country.