New Delhi, August 20 (RHC)-- The collaboration between Cuba and Italy to combat the Covid-19 pandemic is moving forward with the signing of a memorandum for the production of vaccines from the Caribbean nation, the Indian international news portal Peoples Dispatch reported Saturday.

The People Dispatch pointed out that Cuba established its scientific prowess by creating five immunizers to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.

The publication noted that three of them, whose use was approved, proved a 90 percent efficacy, among the highest in the world.

The Caribbean state is collaborating with other nations to expand vaccine production, the website indicated.

Iran was the first country to start producing the Cuban Soberana 02 conjugate vaccine from the Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV) in Havana, in a much-needed collaboration since both nations are facing strong U.S. sanctions and, consequently, a severe shortage of immunizers.

Italy joined this collaboration, and a memorandum of understanding was signed in April 2022 between the IFV, the Italian company Adienne Pharma & Biotech, and the Italian Agency for Economic and Cultural Exchange with Cuba.

The Italian company will soon begin producing the immunogen, which will become part of an international health cooperation mechanism and be exported to other countries.

Nicoletta Dentico, head of the Global Health Program of the Society for International Development (SID), hopes that this collaboration will provide additional arguments and evidence for the World Health Organization (WHO) to understand the importance of Soberana 02 for public health.

Through a conjugate vaccine technology that proved effective among children, Cuba became the first country to immunize infants as young as two years of age. Also, it proved highly effective in containing the spread of the disease-causing SARS-CoV-2 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the Omicron variant.

During the current pandemic, Italy had one of the world's highest infection and mortality rates. The increase in cases strained its healthcare system, so Cuba sent medical teams to the most affected Italian regions, such as Lombardy and Piedmont, to help overburdened Italian professionals.