Cuba’s Covid vaccine may be eligible for tourists

Cuba’s most advanced Covid-19 vaccine candidate is scheduled to enter clinical trials late next week, pushing the small island closer and closer to an extraordinary medical achievement that analysts believe will have far-reaching consequences. the global south.

Cuba’s most promising vaccine candidate, of the four it is developing, is called Soberana 02. The vaccine’s name translates from Spanish to “Sovereign,” an apparent sign of Cuba’s sense of national pride in its health system. world renown.

Sovereign 02 will enter the phase 3 trials on March 1, and officials say the tests will include up to 150,000 volunteers in a few weeks. Phase 3 studies are the final stage before the vaccine is generally approved by national regulatory authorities.

It comes at a time when many people in Cuba are forced to wait in line to buy basic goods and as authorities continue to navigate a decades-old US trade embargo – with tougher sanctions. much in recent years by former President Donald Trump.

“It’s just this incredible dichotomy,” Helen Yaffe, an expert in Cuba and a lecturer in economic and social history at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, told CNBC by telephone.

“On the one hand, you have this high-tech biotechnology sector, which brings a lot of hope to the global south, because it’s the possibility of an affordable vaccine – (and) vaccination in the global south will be the priority,” Yaffe said.

“And at the same time, Cubans wake up at four or five in the morning to get in line, because there’s a real shortage of really basic food and even medicine.”

The Finlay Institute in Cuba, the country’s largest biopharmaceutical institution, oversees the development of Soberana 02. Dr. Vicente Verez, director of the institute, suggested that the vaccine could be made available to tourists as an option for tourists later this year.

If Soberana 02 proves to be safe and effective, the development of a domestically produced vaccine would probably be appreciated as an astonishing scientific discovery and a significant political triumph. Cuba would also become the first country in Latin America to immunize its population with a vaccine produced domestically.

The government has not yet presented specific plans for inoculating tourists, but analysts say it is possible that foreigners traveling to Cuba will receive their first dose of vaccine on the island before receiving subsequent doses to take them home.

Although public data are limited, it is believed that up to three doses of the vaccine could be given at two-week intervals.

Yaffe, who is also the author of “We Are Cuba !: How a Revolutionary People Survived in a Post-Soviet World,” said Cuba’s sophisticated health care system would help the country launch the vaccine “extremely quickly.”

“I can guarantee this. And if they have a vaccine that is every two weeks, then within a month from the beginning people could be vaccinated,” Yaffe said.

“By summer, people will be quite desperate to go on holiday and I think Cuba is called an ideal destination. People are already talking about sun, sea, sand and Soberana 02. So I wouldn’t be surprised if people end up going to Cuba is looking for the vaccine and I am sure the Cubans will offer it. “

Sovereign Vaccine 02 is a conjugate vaccine. This is a type of vaccine that carries a portion of the spike protein that binds or conjugates to human cells to enhance its stability and effectiveness.

Unlike other candidates for the coronavirus vaccine, such as Pfizer-BioNTech, among others, Soberana 02 does not require additional refrigeration requirements. This is likely to simplify the logistical and administrative challenges associated with vaccination programs in low-income countries.

At a virtual session led by the Pan American Health Organization on February 5, Dr. Verez said that Sovereign 02 gave “encouraging results” in the early stages of testing. He added that the vaccination has not yet generated significant side effects.

The Cuban government has said it will produce 100 million doses of Soberana 02 this year to meet the demands of its own citizens as well as those in other countries. It aims to be one of the first countries in the world to vaccinate its entire population in 2021, despite the fact that many advanced nations began administering blows almost two months ago.

Several countries have expressed interest in purchasing the vaccine, such as Vietnam, Iran, Venezuela and the African Union – which represents all 55 countries in Africa.

Cuba, which has had relatively few Covid cases compared to other countries in the region, has seen a sharp rise in infections and deaths in recent weeks. To date, Cuba has recorded 45,361 cases of coronavirus and 300 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Cuba has long been famous for its medical diplomacy, with thousands of specialized personnel sent abroad to help countries cope with short-term crises, natural disasters and medical emergencies.

Human rights groups have expressed concern that the Cuban government is imposing repressive rules on doctors working abroad, invoking the right to privacy, freedom and freedom of expression and association.

At the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, it is estimated that Cuba had 24,500 medical staff working in 58 countries. Another 4,000 members of the Henry Reeve Brigade in Cuba, a group of highly respected health professionals, went to work in countries from Kuwait to Mexico, Italy and South Africa.

It is a deeply rooted tradition, which means that the country with just over 11 million is believed to have more medical staff working abroad than all the G-7 countries combined.

“This is an extraordinary record, largely unknown to the media – one of the best kept secrets in the world,” John Kirk, a professor at the Latin America program at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada, said in an e-mail.

“Medical internationalism is in Cuban DNA, and in fact the preamble to the Cuban constitution mentions Cuba’s commitment to sharing its medical talent with developing countries,” he added.