The Covid vaccine in Cuba may be eligible for tourists

Cuba’s most advanced Covid-19 vaccine candidate is expected to begin clinical trials next week, bringing the small island closer to an extraordinary medical achievement that analysts say will have far-reaching consequences across the south.

Cuba’s most promising vaccine candidate, of the four it has in development, is named Soberana 02. The name of the vaccine translates from Spanish as ‘Sovereign’, an apparent nod to Cuba’s sense of national pride in its world-renowned health system.

Soberana 02 will have to enter Phase 3 trials from March 1, and officials say tests will include as many as 150,000 volunteers within a few weeks. Phase 3 trials are the last phase before a vaccine is generally approved by national regulators.

It comes at a time when many people in Cuba are being forced to wait hours in line to buy basic goods, and because the authorities are still navigating a decades-old US trade embargo – with the sanctions imposed by former President Donald over the past year Trump has been sharpened even further.

“It’s just this incredible dichotomy,” Helen Yaffe, a Cuba expert and lecturer in economic and social history at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, told CNBC by telephone.

“On the one hand, you have this high-tech biotechnology sector that is bringing a lot of hope to the world south, because it is the possibility of an affordable vaccine – (and) the vaccination of the global south will be the priority,” Yaffe said. .

“And at the same time, the Cubans get up at four or five in the morning to get in queues, because there is really a shortage of basic food and even medicine.”

Finlay Institute of Cuba, the country’s leading biopharmaceutical institution, oversees the development of Soberana 02. Vicente Verez, director of the institute, pointed out that the vaccine could be made available as an option for tourists later this year.

If Soberana 02 is found to be safe and effective, the development of an indigenous vaccine is likely to be seen as an astonishing scientific breakthrough and a significant political triumph. It would also see Cuba become the first Latin American country to immunize its population with a native-made vaccine.

The government has not yet set out specific plans for vaccinating tourists, but analysts believe it is possible that foreigners traveling to Cuba may receive their first vaccine dose on the island before receiving subsequent doses to take home with them.

Although public data are limited, up to three doses of the vaccine can be administered at two intervals.

Yaffe, who is also the author of “We Are Cuba !: How a Revolutionary People Have Survived in a Post-Soviet World”, said Cuba’s sophisticated healthcare system would help the country export the vaccine “extremely” quickly.

“I can guarantee it. And if they get a vaccine every two weeks, people can be vaccinated within a month,” Yaffe said.

“By the summer, people are going to be pretty desperate to go on holiday and I think Cuba is calling itself an ideal destination. People are already talking about sun, sea, sand and Soberana 02. So I would not be surprised if people finally go to Cuba to look for the vaccine and I’m sure the Cubans will offer it. ‘

The Soberana 02 vaccine is a conjugate vaccine. It is a type of vaccine that contains a portion of the ear protein that binds, or conjugates, to human cells to enhance their stability and effectiveness.

Unlike other coronavirus vaccines, such as Pfizer-BioNTech, Soberana 02 does not require additional cooling. This is likely to simplify the logistical and administrative challenges associated with vaccination programs in low-income countries.

At a virtual session led by the Pan American Health Organization on February 5, dr. Verez said Soberana 02 produced “encouraging results” during the early stages of testing. He added that the vaccination had not yet yielded any significant adverse reactions.

The Cuban government has said it will produce 100 million doses of Soberana 02 this year to meet the demands of its own citizens as well as those in other countries. It aims to be one of the first countries in the world to vaccinate its entire population by 2021, despite the fact that many advanced countries started administering jabs almost two months ago.

Several countries have been interested in obtaining the vaccine, such as Vietnam, Iran, Venezuela and the African Union – which already represent 55 countries in Africa.

Cuba, which has reported relatively few Covid cases compared to other countries in the region, has seen a sharp rise in infections and deaths in recent weeks. To date, Cuba has recorded 45,361 cases of the coronavirus and 300 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Cuba has long been known for its medical diplomacy, with thousands of specialist staff sent abroad to help countries deal with short-term crises, natural disasters and medical emergencies.

Human rights groups have expressed concern that the Cuban government is imposing oppressive rules on doctors working abroad, citing the right to privacy, freedom and freedom of expression and association.

At the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, there were an estimated 24,500 medical staff in Cuba working in 58 countries. A further 4,000 members of Cuba’s Henry Reeve Brigade, a group of highly respected health workers, went to work in countries from Kuwait to Mexico, Italy to South Africa.

It is a deep-rooted tradition that means the country has just over 11 million more medical staff abroad than all the G-7 countries put together.

“This is an extraordinary record, largely unknown to the mainstream media – one of the world’s best kept secrets,” John Kirk, a professor at Dalhousie University’s Latin American program at Nova Scotia, Canada, told e- mail told CNBC.

“Medical internationalism is in the Cuban DNA, and the preamble to the Cuban constitution mentions the commitment that Cuba must share its medical talent with developing countries,” he added.