Tanalís Padilla, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States

Havana, Dec 23 (RHC) Mexico's La Jornada newspaper published on Friday an article by Mexican-born professor Tanalís Padilla, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States and author of numerous books, who highlights the importance of Cuban vaccines and global inequity.

In the material, the professor highlights Cuba's efforts in the preparation of its immunogens against Covid-19 and the deliveries to Mexico.

Padilla recalled that at the end of last November, the first shipment of the Cuban Abdala vaccine arrived in Mexico, one of the three -together with Soberana 2 and Soberana Plus- authorized by the Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (Cofepris).

"At first sight, it seems surprising that Cuba, a poor country, besieged by a six-decade-long blockade and facing an acute economic crisis, appears next to great powers such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and China, in the list of countries that developed their vaccine," she pointed out.

She stated that the island stands out for its high level of vaccination, with close to 86 percent of its population with the three doses, a level only surpassed then by the United Arab Emirates.

"Cuba was also the first country to massively vaccinate children up to 2 years of age, a process that reduced the lethality of the pandemic on the island because, although Covid-19 does not affect them as seriously as it does older people, children are a source of transmission," she said.

She recalled that since the 1980s the island has been developing medicines and vaccines both for its population, for export, and donation to other countries.

In this regard, she highlighted the work of the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology and the Finlay Vaccine Institute. (Source: PL)