Foto: PL

Havana, November 23 (RHC)-- Nature, one of the most prestigious scientific journals worldwide, published an article acknowledging the success of Cuba's strategy to develop its anti-COVID-19 vaccines.

The text points out that when the pandemic began, Cuba decided not to wait for the rest of the world to develop vaccines.

It recognizes that the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States prevents products manufactured in the U.S. from being exported to the island, which would make their acquisition difficult.

The article recounts how the Finlay Institute and the other biotechnology centers began to develop their immunogens in the hope that at least one of them would be effective.

"Their gamble appears to be paying off," it notes, referring to Soberana 02, which is more than 90 percent effective in protecting against symptomatic COVID-19 infection when used in combination with a related one.

"Importantly, the combination appears to be effective against the highly transmissible Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which has caused a surge in hospitalizations and death worldwide and now accounts for nearly all COVID-19 cases in Cuba."

It expresses that as of November 18, 89 percent of the Cuban population, including children up to two years old, had received at least one dose of Soberana 02 or Abdala, produced at the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) in Havana.