Cuba works on vaccine formulations for new SARS-CoV-2 strains

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 12 (ACN) Marta Ayala Avila, general director of the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB by its Spanish acronym), informed today that Cuba is working on vaccine variants in the face of the appearance of new strains of the SARS-CoV-2.

We have the capacity to isolate the strains, to evaluate the immune response and to have a vaccine with these mutations, said the scientist during an appearance on national television with the participation of Miguel Diaz-Canel, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic.

She pointed out that the world is already talking about the possibility of a third booster dose and Cuba can anticipate and foresee this situation.

Ayala Avila referred to the recent approval of the emergency use of Abdala, making it the first Latin American and Caribbean vaccine, and announced that Soberana 02 is also on its way to obtaining it.

Referring to Abdala, which is applied three doses -one every 14 days-, she clarified that it requires some time after the last injection for its effect to be expressed in the subject.

Vaccination reduces the possibility of getting sick, and if so, the passage to severe and critical forms of the disease, the expert added.

The scientist recalled that the Cuban vaccine candidates were obtained based on the island's experiences in the production of this type of drugs and that the decision to have their own products was the right one because currently the poorest countries are the most disadvantaged ones.

Phase III clinical trials that have been carried out in the country are first world and can cost millions of pesos and Cuba did them, besides, in a complex epidemiological circumstance, Ayala Avila concluded.