Havana, Cuba: Despite the complex epidemiological situation in Cuba due to the spread of more transmissible variants of the virus that causes the Covid-19 pandemic, the vaccine proposals in this country today show high effectiveness, Prensa Latina publishes.
That was assured by Gerardo Guillén, director of Biomedical Research at the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), and the vice president of the Cuban Society of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Pedro Mas Bermejo, on the Mesa Redonda television space.
“All vaccines, including ours (from Cuba), work better against the delta variant than against the beta”, Guillén explained.
He recalled that during the development of clinical trials with the anti-Covid-19 Soberana 02 and Abdala proposals, in Havana and Santiago de Cuba, respectively, there was presence of the beta variant.
Precisely, in these clinical trials it was shown that two doses of Soberana 02 plus one of its counterpart Soberana Plus showed 91.2 percent efficacy in terms of the ability to prevent symptomatic disease; while with three doses of Abdala, the figure was 92.28.
Dr. Guillén explained that the delta variant, predominant in Cuba and in several countries, spreads two and three times faster, therefore a greater number of people are infected. “When there is more viral load, the disease is transmitted more easily”, he said.
However, he stressed that the viral load in those vaccinated disappears more quickly, unlike those who have not been immunized.
Also, the disease is less likely to progress toward severity and critic. For example, there are cases of elderly people with comorbidities, but vaccinated, who are infected and pass the disease with mild catarrhal symptoms.
The vice president of the Cuban Hygiene and Epidemiology Society added that the vaccine seeks to reduce the number of deaths, serious and critical cases, the number of patients in intensive care units, hospitalizations and then the incidence rate.
“The data show that the incidence rate is lower in the first four municipalities of the capital where the health intervention process began, which already have more time of vaccination”, he said.
Until this August 8, Cuba accumulates 10 million 848 thousand 920 administered doses of the vaccine candidates Soberana 02 and Soberana PLUS; as well as with the Abdala vaccine, according to data from the Ministry of Public Health.
Mas Bermejo reiterated that it is a complex disease, which is why he insisted on the necessary protection, because “although vaccines are effective, by themselves they are not enough,” he stressed.
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