Cuba is Willing to Contribute to World Immunization against COVID-19

Havana, Jan 25 (ACN) Cuban scientists expressed their willingness to expand the local production of COVID-19 vaccines for the sake of collaboration among the nations towards the world immunization against the coronavirus.

The experts answered questions by different international media outlets during a virtual forum on vaccine internationalism with Cuba held Tuesday at the Health Ministry.

During the forum, promoted by the Progressive International organization, the scientists insisted that technology can be transferred to countries with technological capabilities and human resources.

The director for Innovation and Science with the BioCubaFarma Biotech Conglomerate, Rolando Perez, referred to donations already done by Cuba and a possible offer of Cuban vaccines at favored prices for different countries. He said that negotiations are underway with several regulatory authorities of countries that have expressed interest in the Cuban homegrown vaccines.

As to the authorization of the emergency use of the vaccines by the World Heath Organization, the executive said that BioCubaFarma and the Cuban regulatory authority have kept in contact with experts of the Pan-American and World Health organizations.

According to Perez, the records of the Cuban vaccine ABDALA, produced by Genetic Engineering and Biotech Center, are being reviewed to be sent to the World Health Organization and it is possible to have the authorization this year.

Meanwhile, the Finlay Vaccine Institute, which produced the Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus vaccines, is also preparing the records of those products while advancing the collection of evidence and positioning results in specialized publications, said Dagmar Garcia, Research Director with the Institution.

The regulatory authorities of every country can approve the vaccines without the approval of the World Health Organization, said the experts.

As to the impact of the Omicron variant, the Science and Innovation director of the Cuban Health Ministry, Ileana Morales, said that research is underway at the Pedro Kouri Tropical Medicine Institute and that such studies reveal that those persons already vaccinated count on favorable number of antibodies against the variant.

Progressive International general coordinator https://progressive.international/ David Adler said that they will continue to spread more information about the Cuban vaccines in an effort to advance internationalism.