The Mexican newspaper La Jornada today highlights on its cover a work on the success of the Cuban Abdala vaccine against COVID-19 despite the media campaign against its image. The newspaper publishes an interview with Gerardo Guillén and Miladys Limonta, directors of biomedical research and business at the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology of Cuba (CIGB), respectively.In Cuba, no deaths from COVID-19 have been recorded for a year and a half, as a result of the actions that, despite the economic blockade, have been carried out to stop the pandemic, including vaccines whose effectiveness is proven against the SARS virus. -CoV-2, including new variants.The experience of the Island’s scientists in the development of Abdala, their first biological, is peculiar because the different stages of the clinical trial coincided with the periods in which the beta, delta and omicron variants were circulating.So in each phase the product’s ability to neutralize them was verified, explained Gerardo Guillén, director of CIGB Biomedical Research. Both were in Mexico last week to participate in the National and International Congress of Pharmaceutical Sciences.Limonta stressed that the WHO did not reject the vaccine at any time, as Cuba’s enemies are trying to make people believe, but that the process is pending. The CIGB is about to present the missing documents, but now the health organization no longer has the need or urgency to evaluate vaccines, and like Abdala, there are more than 30 biologics in the process of evaluation in the world.He explained that the Island decided to carry out its own scientific research, as has been done for decades, because due to the economic blockade imposed by the United States, purchases and financial transactions are very complicated, sometimes impossible to carry out. It was clear that the vaccines would not reach Cuba.To achieve the objective at CIGB, the 30 ongoing research projects were suspended and we all focused on COVID-19. The scientists proposed 16 lines of research, of which two progressed: Abdala and Soberana.Both vaccines are available in Cuba and are applied interchangeably, now as a booster to children from two years of age, older adults and people living with chronic diseases, and Abdala has an efficacy of 92.28% capacity to neutralize the action of the coronavirus.Guillén explained that the technological platform used by the CIGB has been known for 30 years and with it Cuba manufactures the vaccine against hepatitis B, of which hundreds of millions of have been sold in 50 countries. From there Abdala’s safety is guaranteed.Even more, he said, it does not require special refrigeration conditions, since it is kept between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius and in research it was shown that it maintains its stability for a month at 37 degrees and for a week at 45 degrees.
Sources: Granma Newspaper
Views: 0
