Cuban-made Covid-19 vaccine is 100% effective in preventing deaths
The official announcement on July 16 by a VNA correspondent in Havana said that the Covid-19 vaccine named Abdala, produced by Cuba, is 100% effective in preventing deaths from this dangerous disease. This is the result recorded in the third phase of clinical research of the above vaccine.
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| Cuba's Abdala Covid-19 vaccine is introduced at a press conference in La Habana, March 19, 2021. Photo: AFP/TTXVN |
According to Marta Ayala, Director of the Cuban Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), which developed the drug, Abdala is the first domestically produced vaccine to be authorized for emergency use in Latin America. Abdala was previously reported to be 92.28% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid-19 infection. Ms. Ayala also said that the number of volunteers participating in Phase 3 clinical trials of this vaccine in Cuba is 300,000 people.
On the same day, CIGB also announced that Cuba's Covid-19 vaccine candidate Mambisa has also been included in the global list of nasal immunotherapy drugs that are advancing to the clinical trial stage. Mabisa is one of five vaccine candidates, out of more than 300 registered worldwide, that are administered nasally. It is also one of five Covid-19 vaccine candidates developed by Cuba, including Abdala, and the only candidate that is administered intranasally with a single dose.
According to statistics as of July 16, Cuba said that 3.2 million people had been vaccinated with at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, with a total of 7.9 million doses used, of which more than 2 million people had completed the vaccination with all 3 doses.
Thus, Cuba is still on schedule, the plan is to complete vaccination of 60-70% of the population, or 11 million people, by the end of August, as well as reaching the goal of becoming the first country in the world to complete Covid-19 vaccination for the entire population with domestically produced vaccines.
