Seventy percent of Cubans will be immunized against SARS-Cov-2 between July and August, in a staggered vaccination strategy, which today involves different population groups between 19 and 80 years old.
The first step constitutes the two phase III clinical trials that are being carried out with Soberana 02 and Abdala, the most advanced projects that managed to reach that period with 44 thousand 10 subjects the first and 48 thousand the second, to be examined in the capital and the east of the country respectively.
The route outlined by scientists and health authorities includes two intervention studies to evaluate efficacy in risk groups, one that has been progressing since this week in Havana with 150 thousand volunteers, to which another 120 thousand will soon be added in eastern Santiago de Cuba, Granma and Guantánamo.
Both will include health personnel and workers in the biopharmaceutical industry, groups at risk.
The idea is to immunize the population gradually, and between April and May with this design 1.7 million people will be protected against the virus, they explained.
To achieve this, depending on the epidemiological situation in each locality, the investigation will be extended to other population groups, in a larger trial in which the two candidates Soberana 02 and Abdala will be present, they added.
At the same time, vulnerable groups such as those over 60 will be included to reach more than six million immunized people between July and early August.
For the vice president of the business group Bio Cuba Farma Eulogio Pimentel, the design of the Cuban vaccine candidate strategy against Covid-19 was also aimed at preventing the institutions from traveling the same routes and thus reaching the best possible product.
There is a work structure of work 24 hours a day, seven days a week and this will allow us to have the necessary doses for our population and address international collaborations, he said.
The scientists insisted that each step in the designed immunization scheme carries the rigorous examination of the regulatory authority, once authorized in each stage, emergency vaccination will be carried out for the rest of the population.