The country of Cuba was among the most notable governments that took action since the beginning of the pandemic. In recent news, the country built its own set of vaccines. Though the usual approach takes a long period of time, Cuba achieved to manufacture a solution in less than three years.
Cuba's Vaccine Development
Workers transport a shipment of the Cuban Soberana Plus vaccine against the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, to be donated by the Cuban government to Syria, at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, on January 7, 2022.
Cuba was among the countries that had doubts over the concept of vaccines being created by the biggest pharmaceutical enterprise in the world. With that said, the country dealt with COVID-19 with their own hands by developing not just one but five distinct vaccines against the coronavirus.
The communist government did not rely on the potential of international vaccine development and instead took the work through t independent research. Even though it was a tough gamble for Cuba to go head to head with the surge of SARS-CoV-2, their scientific community dedicated their best shot to perform one of the near-impossible stunts in the field of medicine and health.
Cuba was so dependent on itself that they excluded it from the World Health Organizations's COVAX program, which aimed to distribute a large volume of vaccination dosage in every part of the globe.
Cuban virology expert Amilcar Perez Riverol said in an NPR report that they would not call the attempt a gamble but rather a risky approach. The Riverol worked with Cuba's strategy culminated in laboratories located in Havana, where home-grown vaccines were developed. Throughout the studies for independent vaccines, Riverol always knew that the chances of success from the project were high.
Cuba has already produced five distinct vaccines, each in different stages. Three of the vaccines, called Soberana 1, Soberana 2, and Soberana Plus, were completed in Havana's Finlay Institute. The remaining vaccines, called the Abdala and Mambisa, were constructed by experts from the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Cuba.
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Vaccines in Cuba Ignored by WHO
Abdala, Soberana 2, and Soberana Plus are already authorized by the Cuban government for administration and export. The other two, one which included a nasal spray, are still under clinical trials. All five Cuban vaccines are not yet recognized and approved by the World Health Organization and other international health agencies connected with the more famous COVID-19 vaccines.
Even though world-tier organizations distance themselves from independent innovation, Cuba holds the top COVID-19 vaccination rates compared to most countries. The nation already covered over 85 percent of its population.
It is bizarre that the small island nation had higher rates of immunization than more advanced countries such as the United States, but it already happened. European countries, excluding Portugal, were also beaten by Cuba's rates. In addition, these vaccines that the country formulated are safe to use for children as young as two years.
During the dark times of the pandemic, right when vaccination doses were scarce in low to middle-income countries, Cuba was silently giving support to friendlies such as Mexico, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Iran, and Vietnam.
Soberana 1, Soberana 2, Soberana Plus, and Abdala vaccines were already submitted by Cuba to WHO for Emergency Use Listing, but their application is still ignored up to this date.
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