Cuban COVID-19 vaccine passes first phase of clinical trials

Havana, SANA- BioCubaFarma company has announced the end of the first phase of clinical trials on the Cuban Covid-19 vaccine (SOBERANA 01) without any negative effects on volunteers except for mild pain at the injection site.

Normando Escobar, Director of Marketing and Business Development at BioCubaFarma to which Finlay Institute of Vaccines is affiliated, said in an interview with SANA correspondent in Cuba, that the first phase started on the 24th of last August and it involved 20 volunteers between the ages of 19 and 59.

Escobar added that there haven’t been any negative effects for this vaccine except for a mild pain at the injection site which is a very common side effect for all vaccines, indicating that the second phase of these experiments will start on Sep. 11th and it will involve another group of volunteers between the ages of 60 and 80.

He expected that the final results of the Cuban vaccine will be announced by the end of next January and later, it will be available for citizens in Feb. 2021, indicating that there are many states who are willing to cooperate with Cuba, but the US unjust sanctions prevent that.

In this context, Escobar hailed the efforts exerted by Syria for tackling the novel Coronavirus and providing the basic medicines for the citizens despite the US coercive measures imposed on it.

Escobar, who visited Syria last year, added that there is a common desire by both countries for enhancing the mutual cooperation, particularly as they are facing similar coercive measures imposed by the same country which is the US and this entails coordination and cooperation between the two sides to overcome these measures.

The vaccine (SOBERANA 01) was announced on the 20th of last August, during a meeting of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel with scientists and experts working directly in combating the pandemic as the Cuban President underlined the importance of having a vaccine for Cuba against the Coronavirus, stressing that this is a reflection of national sovereignty, especially in the fields of science and innovation.

Ruaa al-Jazaeri

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