Cuba advances health intervention with anti-COVID-19 vaccine candidates

HAVANA, Cuba, May 18 (ACN) A total of 455,908 people have been immunized with one or more doses of the anti-COVID-19 Abdala and Soberana 02 vaccine candidates, developed in Cuba, through health intervention in territories and risk groups, the ministry of public health ( MINSAP by its Spanish acronym) reported today.

In his daily presentation broadcast by Cuban TV, Dr. Francisco Duran, national director of epidemiology of MINSAP, highlighted that this immunization will contribute to the control of the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic, which since its outbreak in the Caribbean nation in March 2020 has infected 126,755 people, and has caused the death of 826 people.

In response to questions, Dr. Duran clarified that although vaccination is mass vaccination, it is still voluntary.

He also explained that Cuban scientists are developing vaccine candidates free of thiomersal, known as thimerosal, to immunize those allergic to that chemical compound.

For his part, during a meeting of the temporary working group for the prevention and control of COVID-19 held on Monday, Dr. Jose Angel Portal Miranda, minister of public health, stressed that the health intervention in Cuba complies with the ethical standards approved for research on human beings and an assurance plan that will be carried out according to the productive stages.

Advancing in the vaccination of different population groups should contribute to a reduction in the number of sick and dead people, as well as to a possible decrease in transmission, which would allow a gradual return to social and economic activities in the national territory, the head of the sector emphasized.