Havana, Cuba: The greatest dream of Cuban scientists is that their population will be the first in the world to be vaccinated against Covid-19, said today the general director of the Finlay Vaccine Institute, Doctor of Science Vicente Vérez.
Speaking to Telesur, referring to the Cuban vaccine candidate, Soberana 01, the expert specified that they intend to achieve this goal next year.
“It is a purpose that they try to achieve with a great sense of solidarity because it will be shared with the rest of the world, because we hope that together with the 11 million Cubans, other million people in friendly countries will also receive it?, the Doctor of Science explained.
Vérez recalled the experience of the scientific community in the generation of drugs against various diseases since the 60s of last century, such as polio that devastated the lives of many children, as well as that produced to combat an epidemic of meningitis in the 80s, a vaccine of proven efficacy and supplied in various nations such as Brazil.
The aim was to restore tranquility to the population, especially parents, immunization efforts that became emblems of Cuban medicine and public health.
In his interview with the Latin American television station, he meant that Covid-19 surprised scientists worldwide, for not understanding from the beginning of the pandemic the great threat posed by the new SARS-Cov2 coronavirus due to its high transmissibility and rapid spread.
Faced with this, the Cuban biotechnology and pharmaceutical community reacted from a call from the country’s top leadership that forced the development of a specific project in the vaccine candidate, officially presented on August 13.
The proposal from the Finlay Vaccine Institute, the Center for Molecular Immunology and the University of Havana, entered the clinical trial phase on Monday this week after receiving authorization from the Center for State Control of Drugs, Equipment and Medical Devices.
By referring to that process, Vérez meant that they had beaten the first step in three months. A step that, in terms of coronavirus, is an important step. There are more than 200 vaccine candidates in development in the world. Only 30, including ours, were approved to start clinical trials.
Soberana 01 has already been applied to the first 20 trial subjects, who are in perfect health, with the only adverse effect of mild pain at the injection site, which is a side effect, common to all vaccines, according to the first information of that process.
The first safety report will be delivered on Monday, August 31 to the authorities of the Center for State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices, said the statement released on the website of the Finlay Vaccine Institute, the leading center of the project.
Subsequently, the trial will begin with the rest of the expected subjects, belonging to the age group between 60-80 years of age.
