Cuba’s Covid vaccine may become eligible for tourists

Cuba’s most advanced Covid-19 vaccine candidate is scheduled to enter advanced clinical trials next week, taking the small island nation ever closer to an extraordinary medical achievement that analysts believe will have far-reaching consequences across the global south.

The most promising candidate vaccine in Cuba, of the four that is under development, is called Soberana 02. The name of the vaccine is translated from Spanish as “Soberana”, an ostentatious nod to Cuba’s feeling of national pride in its health care system. world renowned.

Sovereign 02 is expected to enter Phase 3 testing from March 1, and officials say the tests will include up to 150,000 volunteers in weeks. Phase 3 trials represent the final stage before a vaccine is generally approved by national regulators.

It comes at a time when many people in Cuba are forced to wait in line for hours to buy basic goods and authorities continue to navigate a decades-long United States trade embargo – with even more severe sanctions in recent years by the former president Donald Trump.

“It is exactly this incredible dichotomy,” Helen Yaffe, an expert in Cuba and a 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 global south because it is the possibility of an affordable vaccine – (and) vaccinating the global south will be the priority,” said Yaffe.

“And at the same time, Cubans get up at four or five in the morning to get in line because there is a real shortage of staple foods and even medicines.”

The Finlay Institute of Cuba, the country’s main biopharmaceutical institution, is overseeing the development of Soberana 02. Dr. Vicente Verez, director of the institute, suggested that the vaccine could be made available as an option to tourists later this year.

If Sovereign 02 is found to be safe and effective, the development of a domestically produced vaccine would likely be hailed as a surprising scientific breakthrough and a significant political triumph. It would also see Cuba become the first Latin American country to immunize its population with a vaccine produced domestically.

The government has yet to draw up specific plans to inoculate tourists, but analysts say it is possible that foreigners traveling to Cuba will receive the first dose of the vaccine on the island before receiving subsequent doses to take home.

Although public data is limited, it is believed that up to three doses of the vaccine can be administered at two-week intervals.

Yaffe, who is also the author of “We are Cuba !: How a revolutionary people survived in a post-Soviet world”, said that Cuba’s sophisticated health system would help the country to implant the vaccine “extremely” quickly.

“I can guarantee that. And if they received a vaccine that is every two weeks, then, one month after the start, people can be vaccinated,” said Yaffe.

“In the summer, people are going to be desperate to go on vacation and I think Cuba calls itself an ideal destination. There is already talk of sun, sea, sand and Sovereign 02. So I wouldn’t be surprised if people end up going to Cuba in search of the vaccine and I’m sure the Cubans will offer it ”.

The Sovereign 02 vaccine is a conjugate vaccine. This is a type of vaccine that carries a part of the spike protein that binds, or conjugates, with human cells to strengthen its stability and effectiveness.

Unlike other vaccines that are candidates for coronavirus, such as Pfizer-BioNTech, among others, Soberana 02 does not require additional refrigeration requirements. This is likely to simplify the logistical and administrative challenges associated with vaccination programs in low-income countries.

In a virtual session led by the Pan American Health Organization on February 5, Dr. Verez said that Soberana 02 returned “encouraging results” during the early stages of the test. He added that vaccination has not yet generated any significant adverse reactions.

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

Several countries have expressed interest in purchasing the vaccine, such as Vietnam, Iran, Venezuela and the African Union – which represents all 55 countries in Africa.

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

Cuba is known for its medical diplomacy, with thousands of specialists sent abroad to help countries face short-term crises, natural disasters and medical emergencies.

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

At the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, it was estimated that Cuba had 24,500 medical professionals working in 58 countries. Another 4,000 members of the Henry Reeve Brigade of Cuba, a group of highly respected health professionals, went to work in countries from Kuwait to Mexico, from Italy to South Africa.

It is a deeply rooted tradition, which means that the country of just over 11 million people is believed to have more medical personnel working abroad than all the G-7 countries combined.

“This is an extraordinary record, mostly unknown to the mainstream media – one of the best kept secrets in the world,” John Kirk, professor of the Latin America program at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada, told CNBC by email.

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