Cuba works on a new generation of anti-COVID-19 vaccines – Chicago Tribune

HAVANA — Cuba is working on the development of a new generation of vaccines against COVID-19 while continuing the validation process before the World Health Organization of the locally produced antigens that have been applied on the island, reported a manager of the health sector.

“The priority for us has been to complete the number of doses of vaccines that we need to immunize our population,” Eduardo Martínez, head of the state-owned BioCubafarma, the company that produces and markets medicines in the Caribbean nation, told reporters on Thursday. .

Martínez indicated that the island laboratories work with the technology they developed in a new generation of vaccines to face the new variants of the virus that are appearing.

“It is true that cases have decreased, but the pandemic is not over,” said the manager. “It seems it will be necessary from time to time to administer booster shots.”

Cuba was the only Latin American country that developed and manufactured its own antigens – Abdala, Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus – but has not yet obtained authorization from the WHO with which many doors would be opened to export the vaccines or enter the COVAX mechanism created by this organization for the distribution of inoculants in developing countries.

A WHO endorsement is also necessary for the recognition of travelers vaccinated with these products.

Martínez indicated that to date some 80 million doses of the three vaccines have been produced, of which some 70 million were applied both to its population and delivered or sold to allied countries of the island such as Venezuela, Nicaragua or Vietnam. Nations like Mexico gave their endorsement to Cuban antigens.

The manager acknowledged that the responsibility for this validation process with the WHO having been “a little slower” fell on the island. As indicated, given the need to have vaccines as a priority, facilities normally available for other medicines were used for their production. Now a plant has been completed in the Mariel area -about 50 kilometers from Havana-, forcing officials to redo the file with the WHO, which is very strict about production plants.

“But there has been no difficulty with the WHO,” Martínez added. “Yesterday there was a meeting with the WHO team that is in charge of the Abdala vaccine and the Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus file is still being prepared to enter that process.”

The formal request for Abdala, which was developed by the Center for Genetic Immunology and Biotechnology, was made in March. The Sovereigns are a product of the Finlay Institute.

Cuba reported these weeks a decrease in COVID-19 infections with daily averages of 300 cases and a drop also in deaths.

Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, 1.1 million cases and 8,522 deaths have been reported on the island.

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