Eastern Cuba ready to administer vaccine candidate Abdala to volunteers who received placebos

GUANTÁNAMO, Cuba, Jun 23 (ACN) According to an official communiqué, the volunteers in the province of Guantánamo who randomly received placebos in phase III of the clinical trial with Abdala are being announced as everything is in place to proceed to their inoculation with a product proved to be a powerful anti-COVID-19 vaccine.

After the thrill that the Cubans felt following the confirmation of the 92.28% effectiveness of this immunogen made in Cuba, what prevails across the Island is a feeling of pride, along with confidence and conviction among the thousands who did not hesitate to join the study, including those who know now that they had received placebos.

“I was always willing to offer my arm to the trials leading up to this powerful Abdala, fully confident in the quality of our biotechnology, which after 13 months of efforts has made possible a more protected and happier country, Eloarglis Carnet, one of the volunteers (placebo), told ACN.
He knows his contribution has been essential, because this randomized, double-blind procedure with control and experimental groups in the context of clinical research provides objectivity, methodological rigor and scientific credibility to the results, as expected in the study protocol of the vaccine candidate named after Marti's epic poem.

According to the Cuban Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, within 48 to 72 hours following the disclosure of the study codes this week, the subjects who were administered placebos will be vaccinated.

Doctor Alejandro Javier Sánchez, one of the local research coordinators, remarked that the process to administer the first dose will be scaled to avoid crowding.

“Today we are happy to see the number of citizens in this province who have been inoculated and feel more protected, and we immediately think of the greatness of Cuban science and of Fidel, who more than three decades ago pledged our firm commitment to biotechnological development, the reason that today we are one in a select group of countries to have developed their own vaccine candidates,” he said.

Abdala's proven effectiveness makes it rank among the world’s best vaccines, a fact currently viral in social networks, where many Cubans have stated their joy. However, jubilation should not diminish our perception of risk or affect our compliance with the health protocols established to prevent transmission, since there is still a long way to go in this battle for life.