The Cuban Soberana 02 vaccine is 62% effective
The vaccine candidate Sovereign 02 against the coronavirus, developed by the Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV) of Cuba, showed a 62% efficiency in the preliminary analyzes of the third phase of clinical trialsThe scientists responsible for the research reported this Saturday.
The director of the IFV, Vicente Vérez, specified on state television that The percentage has been obtained from the intermediate analysis of the results in the volunteers to whom two doses of Sovereign 02 were applied 28 days apart.
He also stressed that these results meet the requirements of the World Health Organization (WHO) to consider a candidate under study as an “effective vaccine”, since that body establishes a minimum efficiency of 50%.
The third phase of clinical trials of Soberana 02, carried out entirely in Havana with a double-blind protocol and placebo group, included 44,010 volunteers aged 19 to 80 years.
A third phase of studies was also carried out in parallel in Iran, by virtue of an agreement with the Pasteur Institute of that country, which has just announced that early next week could authorize emergency use -There the Cuban formula has been baptized as Pasteur-.
This week also began the clinical trial of Soberana 02 in pediatric ages, initially with a group of children between 12 and 18 years old.
“Congratulations Cuba. On the eve of Father’s Day and 13 months of searching for a Cuban vaccine, it is confirmed that with 2 doses, Soberana02 reached a good percentage of efficacy. Soon we will know the data with the third dose of SoberanaPlus, which should be superior, “Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel wrote on Twitter.
Cuba has a second vaccine candidate in the last phase of clinical trials, Abdala, developed by the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, and whose efficacy is also expected to be known shortly. Both Soberana 02 and Abdala have already been administered to tens of thousands of Cubans under the figure of health intervention studies and in parallel to clinical trials.
According to official figures, just over two million Cubans, out of a population of 11 million, have received at least one dose of these formulas. Cuba is not a member of the Covax Mechanism of the World Health Organization created for low- and middle-income countries to access vaccines, nor has it purchased them on the international market. The country, which has been going through the third and worst wave of infections since January, accumulates to date 166,368 infections and 1,148 deaths from covid-19.
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