Havana, October 15 (RHC)-- Cuba's anti-Covid-19 vaccine, Abdala, showed encouraging preliminary results in the more than 500 participants in the Ismaelillo clinical trial, in children aged 3 to 18 years in the central province of Camagüey, according to the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), in charge of the immunogen.

The leading researcher of the studies with that vaccine, Sonia Resik, highlighted that more than 80 percent of the adverse events reported in the vaccinated children were mild, and the rest of the indicators were comparable to the data obtained in adults which proves that it is effective.

Two formulations with potencies of 25 and 50 micrograms of Abdala vaccine were used during the investigation in a 0-14-28 day schedule.

Although 45 of the selected children had to be excluded during the course of study because they became ill with Covid-19 at home, the total number of volunteers to complete the trial was 547, said the head of the Virology Department of the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine.

Abdala obtained authorization for emergency use in July after demonstrating 92.28 percent efficacy in preventing symptomatic Covid-19 disease. It also proved 90 percent effective in severely ill patients affected by SARS-CoV-2.

Efficacy should not be confused with effectiveness since the former is determined in clinical studies, that is, in ideal research conditions. In contrast, effectiveness is analyzed in real-life circumstances, clarified CIGB general director Marta Ayala.