At the end of September 23, 2021, the number of manufactured doses of the Abdala vaccine amounted to 30 million, which guarantees the immunization of the Cuban population over 19 years of age, including pregnant women, mothers who are breastfeeding, people who have received transplants and young adolescents in terminal degrees of the national education system, said Dr. Marta Ayala Ávila, member of the Party’s Political Bureau and general director of the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB).
Speaking to Granma, Dr. Ayala Ávila recalled that, based on the great experience accumulated in this field by the national biopharmaceutical industry, and given the urgency of advancing with maximum speed in achieving such an important purpose, they emerged from the talent of Cuban scientists five vaccine projects: Abdala and Mambisa, from the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), and Soberana 01, Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus, from the Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV).
Regarding the particular case of Abdala, he highlighted that, for its development and large-scale production, an alliance was established between the CIGB and Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Aica, two entities certified as high-tech companies, which in an innovative environment made it possible In record time the request of the First Secretary of the Party and President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, to achieve sovereignty with his own vaccine.
Dr. Marta Ayala also praised the intense work carried out with the Center for the State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (Cecmed), which made it possible to obtain the Emergency Use Authorization on July 9, 2021.
In this way, Abdala became the first Latin American vaccine against covid-19 to receive this permission. Recently, she was also licensed for emergency use by the Vietnam regulatory authority.
For Antonio Vallín García, general director of Laboratorios Farmacéuticos Aica, the foregoing raises the prestige of Cuban biotechnology and our national health system, demonstrating that permanent investment in the promotion of highly qualified human capital, conceived and implemented by Fidel, continues to bear fruit.
Available at Granma | Author: Orfilio Peláez | orfilio@granma.cu | September 24, 2021 11:09:02 PM
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