The Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), in Havana, has the potential to guarantee a greater production of vaccine candidates, fulfill the demand for drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 positive patients and respond to international requests, Oscar Cruz Gutierrez, its deputy director of production, assured.

Official statistics have it that 127 Science, Technology and Innovation Entities (ECTI)—61% of the nationwide total—from 80 research centers, 13 scientific and technological services, 34 development and innovation units and a scientific-technological park are registered in the capital alone.

Cuban scientists go on developing Jusvinza, one of the main drugs in the treatment of COVID-19 in Cuba, with a view to its application to other conditions, Maria del Carmen Dominguez Horta, leader of the project at the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), announced.

Based on a Phase I clinical study being carried out at the Institute of Hematology and Immunology in Havana, researchers from the Finlay Vaccine Institute are assessing the safety and immunogenicity of the candidate Soberana 01 in patients convalescing from COVID-19 with low levels of neutralizing antibodies.

Obesity is major risk factor for acquiring, transmitting and suffering serious complications from COVID-19, Doctor of Medical Sciences Jorge Pablo Alfonzo Guerra, a second-degree specialist in Nephrology and Internal Medicine, said in an interview with the Cuban News Agency.

The Cuban capital is facing a complex Covid 19 spread, with numbers on the rise surpassing 200 confirmed cases on Friday, which has led local authorities to call for harder work against the disease.

Cuba has set up a multi-disciplinary expert team to research on genetic variants of the SARS-COV 2 virus, which causes the Covid 19 disease.

The general director of the Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV), Vicente Verez Bencomo, announced that Cuba is creating the capacity for the production of one hundred million doses of the injectable vaccine Soberana 02, against COVID-19.

Cuba reported the presence of a new genetic variant of SARS-CoV-2 , previously detected in South Africa and which so far has spread to 20 countries, stated today Dr. Maria Guadalupe Guzman Tirado, head of the Research, Diagnosis and Reference Unit of the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK).

Cuba studied for COVID-19 , 13, 449 samples, resulting in 530 positive ones. The country accumulates 1,738,190 samples tested and 20,060 positive.

Cuba studied for COVID-19, 11, 433 samples, resulting in 408 positive ones. The country accumulates 1,736,174 samples taken and 19,530 positive.

An update on the management and control of Leprosy in Cuba will be released January 28 and 29 during an online workshop with prestiged dermatologists.

Cuba studied 10, 931 samples to detect COVID 19, resulting in 349 new cases. There are accumulated 1, 724, 741 samples carried and 19, 122 positive (1.11%).

Since Monday night, an antigen test began to be applied in polyclinics and hospitals of the capital to patients with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19.