The president commented on Tweeter that the Abdala candidate, from the Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Center(CIGB), is close to completing phase III of clinical trials; while Mambisa, developed by the same institution, but administered nasally, is getting ready to move to a new phase.

CIGB Clinical Research Director Verena Mucio said on Monday that the administration of the third dose to all volunteers participating in the Abdala clinical trials, with around 48,000 participants, should end this week.

The specialist explained that this research stage began on March 22 in the eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and Granma and has shown satisfactory results so far.

In her words, once the vaccination of the volunteers has been completed, the monitoring of these people will begin in order to evaluate the appearance of positive cases with symptomatic infection. This will make it possible to compare the proportions between the groups who received the vaccine or the placebo to evaluate the product’s efficacy, a process slated to begin on May 3, she said.

Murcio explained that after approximately 50 positive cases are identified among the volunteers, the first efficacy evaluation is carried out; a second cut is made upon reaching 100 confirmed cases; while the third and final one is carried out when 150 positive cases are reported, and that is when the conclusions of the research are drawn.

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