Update press conference on the vaccination process in Cuba. Photo: Lisandra Fariñas Acosta / Cubadebate.
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The strategy for Cuban vaccines worked, It was assured this Tuesday at a press conference where José Angel Portal Miranda, Minister of Public Health (Minsap), and Eduardo Martínez Díaz, President of BioCubaFarma participated.
This is also evidenced by the data on the impact of vaccination in the country, presented by the Minister of Health.
Until October 10, Portal Miranda reported, The Island far exceeded the world indicators of vaccinated people, both with a complete and partial scheme.
Photo: Minsap.
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In the country, he said, 22,982,462 doses of vaccines have been applied, which has allowed 86.1% of the total population of Cuba to have at least their first dose of one of the immunogens. This figure rises to 98.4% in the target or vaccinable population.
In addition, 55.8% of the Cuban population has already completed their immunization schedule, and 63.7% of vaccinated people have been immunized.
“These figures place Cuba as the country in the Americas with the highest percentage of vaccination and it is the nation with the highest daily vaccination rate in the world, Portal Miranda highlighted.
Photo: Minsap.
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Stressed that more than 200,000 daily doses applied are averaged and in several days more than 300,000 have been. This requires an incredible effort, with a mobilization of people and important resources to support this activity, which includes mass organizations, governments and health institutions, he said.
The head of the sector highlighted the political will that has guided the entire process. “The essence of the country’s health system is saving lives,” he said and argued that decision-making has had to be dynamic and science and innovation have played an essential role in this.
“None of the steps in the confrontation with the covid-19 have been the result of improvisation and of course neither the immunization strategy”, Portal Miranda emphasized.
The minister referred to the context in which Cuba has faced the pandemic, characterized by a tightening of the blockade imposed by the United States government.
Regarding the fight in the country against covid-19, Portal Miranda recalled that the entire healthcare network and health institutions were put in charge of caring for the sick and suspects, as well as new units were incorporated to respond to the demand for services . “Four molecular biology laboratories grew to 27,” he exemplified.
Currently, he counted, Cuba has 0.3% of the covid-19 cases diagnosed in the world. Today there are 15,284 active cases in the country, while fatality remains below that of the world and the Americas region.
During this year, he continued, after growing practically every month, until reaching the highest figure (26,000 cases) in August, “in September we managed to stop this accelerated rate of growth in cases and in October the level of contagions ”.
Photo: Minsap
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The minister recalled in 2020 a good control of the epidemic was achieved, “but the arrival of the new variants between December and February marked an increase that still allowed us to maintain control ”.
The entry in March of the beta variant —which marked the epidemic peak in Matanzas— increased the cases, while with the appearance of delta, between April and May, the increase in the numbers was significant. From July to September, two variants predominated: beta and delta. In September, 100% of the sequenced samples corresponded to the delta variant, which was the predominant variant that replaced beta in just two months.
“This coincided with the speed of transmission that we were facing of the disease, and it was also in this scenario that the vaccination strategy began to develop. That is our vaccines began to be applied during the predominance of the beta variant and after the delta variant, which is the one that remains predominant in the country at the moment “, said the Minister of Health.
Photo: Minsap.
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Referring to the vaccination strategy, the minister stressed that what Cuba has achieved in the development of health and the biotechnology industry is present in what has been applied in recent months in the confrontation with covid-19.
“Not everything has gone well for us,” acknowledged the owner while clarifying that the protocols have not been poorly developed, “but there have been difficulties when implementing them in the territories.”
In the vaccination scheme there have been two key moments: the regulatory process by CECMED, —an entity of international recognition that has accompanied the entire process—, and the ethical component that has been present through the voluntary nature of the vaccination process in Cuba.
One of the milestones that Cuban science has marked in the midst of the pandemic is the fact of enrolling Cuba in the small group of nations that have managed to develop specific vaccine projects against SARS-CoV-2, Portal Miranda underlined.
Today we have three vaccines approved by the national regulatory authority for emergency use and two other candidates in the clinical trial stage, highlighted the head of the Minsap, and reiterated the Cuban strategy of using drugs of national production, with full coverage and in a process organized by stages.
