Cuban province readies for mass vaccination

HAVANA, Cuba, Apr 29 (ACN) Some 26 thousand inhabitants of the Cuban central province of Sancti Spíritus will be immunized against COVID-19 in the coming month of May, with the application of the Abdala vaccine candidate, developed by the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology of Havana.

This vaccine candidate is about to conclude phase III of the clinical trial with the supply of the third and last dose to the people who have voluntarily participated in this study in Cuba.

This intervention has included health sector workers and students over 18 years of age from the University of Medical Sciences in this province.

In order to apply the vaccine, the consent of those who will be vaccinated is required, and only those who have been infected with the SARS CoV-2 coronavirus one month before the immunization will be excluded.

Doctor Manuel Rivero Abella, Director of Health in the province, told the press that the necessary conditions are currently being created in the more than 30 vaccination centers to be set up in the province.

He stressed that we are in the process of certifying the premises that will operate mainly in the 23 polyclinics of the territory, in addition to guaranteeing the infrastructure to create them in the José Martí Pediatric Hospital, in the Camilo Cienfuegos General Hospital, both located in the provincial capital, and in the University of Medical Sciences.

Rivero Abella assured that measures have been taken to act immediately in case of possible adverse reactions, although these have so far been very few and without any danger to people's lives, which has been confirmed by the results obtained during the studies carried out in other territories of the country.

Vaccination involves administering three doses, one on the first day, another one after two weeks and the last one after 28 days; and after each one of them, people must remain under observation for one hour, in order to check for adverse reactions to the product.

Although Sancti Spíritus this year has had a complicated epidemiological situation, the incidence rate of COVID-19 shows a slight improvement in the last 15 days, registering 117.11 infected persons per 100 thousand inhabitants, with Cabaiguán being the municipality with the worst indicator, with 323.72 sick persons per 100 thousand inhabitants.
Since the outbreak of the disease last September 8, 3,014 patients have been confirmed with the disease in the territory, of which 2,891 are autochthonous cases and the rest are imported.