Cuba's Self-Developed Vaccine Shows 62% Effectiveness

3-Dose Vaccine... Meets Criteria with Only 2 Doses
"Emergency Approval Within Weeks... Tourists Also Vaccinated"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] Cuba's domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate has shown a preventive efficacy of 62%. This surpasses the World Health Organization (WHO) standard of 50%, raising expectations that the first COVID-19 vaccine from Latin America may emerge.

According to foreign media on the 20th (local time), the COVID-19 vaccine candidate 'Soberana 2' demonstrated over 60% preventive efficacy with just two doses in its Phase 3 clinical trial results. Soberana 2 is a three-dose vaccine.

Soberana 2 is a protein subunit vaccine similar to the U.S. Novavax vaccine, and is considered highly safe due to precedents such as the hepatitis B vaccine. It can be stored refrigerated, making distribution and storage convenient.

It has also been shown to be effective against the Beta variant from South Africa, which is currently prevalent in Cuba. A representative from the state-run Finlay Vaccine Institute, leading Cuba's vaccine development, described the results as "very encouraging."

If Soberana 2 succeeds in development, it will become the first COVID-19 vaccine developed in Latin America. The Cuban government has announced that once vaccine development is complete, tourists visiting Cuba will also be vaccinated. Cuban government officials told reporters, "We will grant emergency approval within weeks."

With vaccine development capabilities, Cuba is focusing on domestic development instead of importing COVID-19 vaccines. Currently, four types of COVID-19 vaccines are under development, all of which are easy to produce and inexpensive protein subunit vaccines. Among them, Soberana 2 is the most advanced.