Cuba, which intends to immunize its population in the first half of 2021 with its own vaccine against Covid-19, will test in Iran the effectiveness of Soberana 02, its most advanced vaccine candidate, announced on Saturday January 9 the scientific center which has developped.
Iranian vaccine
The state-run Finlay Vaccination Institute (IFV) and the Pasteur Institute of Iran have signed an agreement in Havana that will allow "
the completion of clinical trials of the vaccine candidate Soberana 02
" and "
rapid progress in both countries in immunization against Covid-19,
”the IFV announced on its Twitter account.
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 "
prohibited to import vaccines made in the United States or the Kingdom -Und
”.
The Iranian supreme leader added that it was impossible to trust them because "
it is not impossible that they want to contaminate other nations
", before his post was later deleted by Twitter, considering that he violated its rules.
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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.
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.
The IFV is also working on two other candidates for coronavirus vaccination, called Mambisa and Abdala.
Cuban scientists are experienced in vaccine research.
The national childhood vaccination program provides for eleven vaccines, eight of which are manufactured on the island, to fight against thirteen diseases.
Although a resurgence in the number of cases is currently observed due to an opening of borders, Cuba seems to control the pandemic and on Saturday recorded 14,188 cases and 148 deaths, much less than neighboring countries.
