Cuba's Molecular Immunology Center (CIM) announced on Thursday they managed to produce 10 million doses of their own vaccines against COVID-19, Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus.
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'The work team that elaborates the RBD raw material reaches the first 10 million equivalent doses of the Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus vaccines. All that has happened in a single month of intense work at the Antibody Plant.
Precisely on August 20, those antigens designed at the Finlay Institute of Vaccines (IFV), were approved by the State Control Center of Medicines and Medical Equipment for their use in emergencies.
Both in their heterologous scheme (two doses of Soberana 02 on 0-28 days, adding one dose of Soberana Plus on day 56), showed an efficacy of 91.2 percent against symptomatic disease in 3rd Phase clinical studies.
Cuba's regulatory authority also certified on August 20 a vaccine candidate against Covid-19 that includes both antigens, but without thiomersal for those allergic to that substance.
The IFV's director, Vicente Verez, pointed out that both Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus are being used in the clinical trial in pediatric ages that is taking place in Havana with 350 volunteers from three to 18 years old, which is already showing very encouraging outcomes.
With two doses of Soberana 02, children from 12 to 18 years old are raising antibodies at the level of three doses in adults, the expert revealed.
In addition, that vaccine underwent the 3rd phase trial in eight provinces of Iran, where it was authorized for use in emergencies.
Meanwhile, in Italy, sera of those vaccinated with Soberana Plus will be assessed to check their response against the SARS-CoV-2 variants; and scientific authorities of both countries are evaluating the application of a clinical trial in Italian recoveries from COVID-19.
Verez also uncovered that there is great interest in Soberana Plus from Canada and other countries where the number of recoveries from COVID-19 is high and where several SARS-CoV-2 variants are circulating.
Prior to the authorization of the IFV projects, the Abdala vaccine, from the Center for Genetic Engineering (CIGB) received the green light on July 9 2021, and the product demonstrated in its three-dose schedule (0-14-28 days) a 92.28 percent efficacy against symptomatic disease.
Data from Cuba's Ministry of Public Health show that a total of 12, 852,801 doses of those three vaccines were applied.
According to the latest report published on the health entity's website, 5,206,206,880 people have received a first dose and 4,481,406 have got a second dose. In addition, with complete vaccination schedules (three doses), the figure reaches 3,165,387. ■