Cuban COVID-19 Vaccines: Testaments to Medical Efficacy in Cuba

Cuba’s local but efficacious approach to COVID-19 vaccine development is laudable. Cuba has adopted intense production and deployments of country-made vaccines while other Latin American countries look up to foreign aids in containing the pandemic. Vaccine production in Cuba has helped the island nation cater for mass vaccination of Cubans without breaking the national budget while also assisting other countries with the vaccines.

Cuba is the first Latin American country to successfully produce COVID-19 vaccines with 92 percent efficacy recorded in the Abdala vaccine.¹ The success of Abdala’s production has gingered further vaccine production including Soberana 1, Soberana 2 with a 91 percent efficacy rate, Soberana Plus, and Mambisa.¹ These vaccines have placed Cuba alongside the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and India in successful vaccine production. The vaccines are completely manufactured in Cuba making it possible for a country-wide vaccination.

Cuba’s vaccines effectiveness is shown in the fewer death rates in the country. In 2020, at the peak of the pandemic, Cuba recorded 146 deaths in 11, 863 infections while the UK had 1084 deaths per million.¹

Benefits and Effectiveness of Cuban Vaccines

Abdala

The Abdala vaccine is Cuban-made. The vaccine is patterned in a similar approach to the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine and the hepatitis B vaccine. Abdala is different from other vaccines because it’s engineered in cells of yeast and not from coronavirus protein extracts.² The vaccine is applied in three doses to train the immune system to identify and fight coronavirus whenever it contacts it. Abdala has been tested and found effective in destroying coronavirus when it contacts it. The vaccine has a 92 percent efficacy against coronavirus and protects against diseases and deaths.²

Abdala has been effective in containing COVID-19 in Cuba. Cuban health authorities have combined Abdala and Soberana 2 in driving mass vaccination in the country. The vaccine integration technique also resulted in the successful vaccination of 90 percent of the 11 million Cuban population.² COVID infection rates in Cuba are declining while local vaccine production is increasing; this has made it possible to sell vaccine doses abroad.

More countries are indicating interest in Abdala. The vaccine is efficacious and has been taken for trials in Iran. While the vaccine is undergoing trial in Iran, it’s been adopted for vaccination in Vietnam, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.² Argentina and Mexico have also shown interest in using the effective Abdala vaccine.

Soberana

The Soberana vaccine involves a chemical binding of tetanus toxoid to the virus antigen for COVID-19.³ The vaccine has been tested effective by several medical institutes and centers after the approval for trial testing from the Cuban Center for Quality Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices in 2020. A non-peer review study has confirmed that Soberana is excellent for neutralizing COVID-19 and gives a complete safety profile.³ The clinical trials for the review showed that the vaccine gives all participants excellent safety profiles one month after the vaccination; increases antibody 20 fold one week after the vaccination and is four times effective for neutralizing the virus.³ Majority of the Cuban population has benefitted from the vaccine. Soberana gives 91.2 percent when boosted with Soberana Plus and is effectively safe to use in three-dose.³

Soberana is gaining traction in international communities. In Iran, the Pasteur Institute has confirmed Soberana and Soberana Plus effective for containing the Delta strain of COVID-19.³ After using the Soberan 2, boosting it with the Soberana plus returns an increase from 71.0 to 92.4 percent.³ According to Reuters on healthcare and pharmaceuticals, a peer-review of the Soberana vaccines will position Cuba among countries like Russia, Germany, and the United States that have successfully produced vaccines with more than 90 percent efficacy.⁴ This means Soberana is ranked alongside Sputnik V., Moderna, Pfizer, and Novavax with over 90 percent efficacy after peer reviews.

Soberana and the other four Cuban vaccines are locally manufactured. They’re produced on low-tech forms but with a high natural-focused biotechnology process.⁴ The vaccines are less expensive and fit perfectly for countries that can’t afford the more expensive COVID-19 vaccines. Practical applications of Cuban vaccines to its population have confirmed safety, efficacy, and costs effectiveness which are prime determinants in vaccine selection and purchase.

Mambisa

The Mambisa vaccine is the fifth Cuba-made vaccine with high efficacy. The vaccine is produced by Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Cuba.⁵ Mambisa is made from a combination of produced antigens and gives fewer side effects to users.⁵ The vaccine is highly beneficial because of its multiple application possibilities without constituting harm to users. Multiple application of Mambisa increases immunity against coronavirus making the vaccine highly demanded.⁵ Mambisa centered the protein nucleus in generating higher immunity against COVID-19.⁵ This vaccine is different from others because it’s capable of increasing immunity with a single dose unlike other vaccines that require double or three doses for immune responses. Multiple applications of Mambisa may not be advised because the vaccine is efficacious at a single dose.⁵

Cuba Medical Milestones

Cuba, an island nation with over 11 million populations has a long history of medical efficacy. While the US sanction on the Cuban economy has affected import-export relations in some ways, Cuba has remained significantly top of other Latin American countries in medical effectiveness. The mass production of the COVID-19 vaccines using local resources and ingenious biotechnologists has gained the country recognition among top nations like the UK, US, and Germany in medical innovation and manufacturing. One important effect of Cuban vaccine production is that the country can protect its million population while also helping other countries by selling the effective Cuba-made COVID-19 vaccines.

The COVID-19 pandemic has come with rising global inflation and economies are reacting negatively. What this portends is that countries might find it difficult to purchase expensive vaccines like Sputnik V., Pfizer, and Moderna or wait for foreign aids. While waiting, the pandemic may badly hit the most vulnerable and further threaten global health and prosperity. Cuban vaccines are safe and less expensive alternatives with testimonials from Cuban populations, Vietnam, Venezuela, and Iran among others.

Cuba’s medical effectiveness dates back to when Fidel Castro invested heavily in Cuban public health. The investment has yielded results in combating cancer and meningitis in Cuba.⁶ Cuban health research and vaccine production have reduced Cuba’s infant mortality rate to 4.2 percent of 1,000; a lower percentage than obtainable in the US.⁶

Medical investment in Cuba is people-oriented. Cuban authorities have thus mandated BioCubaFarma, the country’s leading biotechnology center to manufacture vaccines and equipment to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and assist struggling economies with treatments and equipment at this time.⁷

Cuba High Ranking in COVID-19 vaccination

Medical innovations and productivity is driving Cuba’s mass vaccination. Cuba has reached an all-time milestone of vaccinating 90 percent of its population putting it behind only the United Arab Emirates in vaccination.⁸ Cuba’s rapid and effective vaccination puts the country ahead of richer countries and stronger economies in Latin America and the Caribbean.⁸ The secret to this milestone is described as focus and value on local production of vaccines while many countries struggle for more expensive and foreign-made COVID-19 vaccines.⁸

Cuba has successfully vaccinated 90 percent of its population with children between 2-18 being fully vaccinated.⁸ Effective vaccination has returned normalcy in Cuba; schools have reopened and tourists are now welcome to the island nation. Although the COVID-19 variants are being reported in the UK and South Africa, Cuba’s vaccines are efficaciously lined up for use as they’ve been tested for effectiveness within and outside the country. It’s safe to say that Cuba-made vaccines are stronger and better alternatives even to COVID variants.

Cuba has achieved a milestone that many rich nations aspire to attain in medical innovation. Medical innovation has translated to excellent manufacturing of world-class COVID-19 vaccines in Cuba including Abdala, Soberana 1, Soberana 2, Soberana Plus, and Mambisa. These vaccines have helped Cuba to near-all population vaccination and have sustained the island’s economy in the face of the pandemic. The vaccines are high in efficacy with Abdala and Soberana reaching more than 90 percent efficacy rates. More countries are beginning to demand Cuba-made vaccines because of the high efficacy, safe profiles, naturalness, and cost-effectiveness making them competitive globally.

Purchasing Cuban vaccines will help countries contain the virus without breaking their treasury on containment. The vaccines are less expensive and available for distribution to any country in the world.

References

1. Why Cuba developed its own covid vaccine—and what happened next https://www.bmj.com/content/374/bmj.n1912Cuba’s COVID vaccines: the limited data available suggests they’re highly effective https://theconversation.com/cubas-covid-vaccines-the-limited-data-available-suggests-theyre-highly-effective-172725
2. Cuba Soberana COVID-19 Vaccine https://www.precisionvaccinations.com/vaccines/cuba-soberana-covid-19-vaccine
3. Cuba says second COVID-19 vaccine Soberana 2 boasts 91.2% efficacy https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/cuba-says-second-covid-vaccine-soberana-2-boasts-912-efficacy-2021-07-09/
4. Covid-19: Single vaccine dose is 33% effective against variant from India, data show https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1346/rr-1
5. Fidel Castro: A champion of public health https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/health/popular-prolific-populist-56607
6. Cuba’s National Regulatory Authority & COVID-19: Olga Lidia Jacobo-Casanueva MS Director, Center for State Control of Medicines and Medical Devices (CECMED) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34516531/
7. Cuba has vaccinated most against Covid-19, more than most large, rich countries https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuba-vaccinated-covid-19-large-rich-countries-rcna9498

8. Cuba has vaccinated most against Covid-19, more than most large, rich countries https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/cuba-vaccinated-covid-19-large-rich-countries-rcna9498