Cuba will test in Iran the effectiveness of Soberana 02, its most advanced vaccine candidate.
The director of the Finlay Vaccination Institute (IFV) which is developing the vaccine, Vicente Vérez Bencomo, had spoken of ongoing negotiations to develop phase 3 of clinical trials of Soberana 02 in other countries due to the low prevalence of Covid-19 in the Cuban population.
Read also: Covid-19: Cuba plans to administer its own vaccine within six months
The state-run IFV and the Pasteur Institute of Iran signed an agreement in Havana that will allow "
the completion of clinical evidence of the Soberana 02 vaccine candidate
" and "
rapid progress in both countries in immunization against Covid-19
”, announced the IFV on its Twitter account.
Iran refuses British and American vaccines
The announcement of the signing of the agreement between Iran and Cuba comes the day after a tweet from Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in which he declares "
forbidden to import vaccines made in the United States or the Kingdom -Und
”.
“
We absolutely cannot trust them.
It is not impossible that they want to infect other nations,
”wrote Ali Khamenei, whose message was then deleted by Twitter, considering that he was violating his rules.
Soberana 02 is the most advanced SARS-CoV-2 vaccine project that scientists at the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology are working on, the other being Soberana 01.
At the end of December, the director of the IFV Vicente Vérez Bencomo had indicated that he wanted to start in January phase 3 of the tests of its candidate vaccines with the participation of 150,000 volunteers in Havana.
He also announced that Cuba would be able to vaccinate its entire population with its own vaccine against Covid-19 during the first half of 2021.
Although a resurgence in the number of cases is currently seen due to an opening of borders, Cuba appears to be in control of the pandemic and on Saturday recorded 14,188 cases and 148 deaths, much less than its neighboring countries.