Vaccine candidates Abdala and Soberana Plus join forces against COVID-19 in central Cuba

SANCTI SPIRITUS, Cuba, Jun 16 (ACN) Cuban vaccine candidates Abdala and Soberana Plus were integrated this week in the fight against COVID-19 in the province of Sancti Spíritus through a sanitary intervention mainly focused on local health workers.

The administration of the third dose of Abdala, given to some 26,000 health workers and medical students in the province, should finish the next few days, even if about 3,000 patients fail to meet the inclusion criteria and were not immunized with the the first dose.

Dr. Mirta Santos León, deputy director of Medical Assistance at the Provincial Health Division, told ACN that the said exclusion made it possible to extend the intervention to other sectors, such as the banking system, the CIMEX corporation, and members of the Ministry of the Interior, as well as to take into account, because of their work, those who would be more exposed to the virus. That is why, she stressed, this sector received Abdala.

The use of Soberana Plus began in the province last Monday and was administered to almost 400 health workers who had been infected with the SARS CoV-2 virus and, therefore, were excluded from the intervention with Abdala.

Ms. Katia Valdivia Morera, head of the Nursing Section of the Provincial Health Division, added that as part of the preparation leading up to a possible extension of the health intervention to the population at large, they are working on the classification of age groups to guarantee a successful process.

According to health authorities, both Abdala and Soberana Plus have proved to have very mild side effects—headache, some discomfort and drowsiness—and only on very few people, a sign of the safety levels achieved by these vaccine candidates during the clinical trials.