The Cuban vaccine candidates are based on a platform of subunits, in other words, a purified protein portion of the virus, so there is no risk of inoculation of the virus upon vaccination, the expert explained at a press briefing on television on Thursday.

She said that these vaccines do not have a platform of the attenuated virus, or alive, so if a person is vaccinated and tests positive when they undergo an antigen or PCR test, it means that he or she was exposed to the virus that causes the disease.

Experts claim that the five Cuban vaccine candidates (Soberana 01, Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus from IFV, and Abdala and Mambisa, from the Center of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology), are making progress in different phases of clinical trials with good results and have proven safety.

Dr. Rodriguez specified that the phase III of clinical trial and intervention studies in risk populations with Soberana 02 seek to determine the proportion in which this vaccine candidate can prevent the disease.

One can get vaccinated and later infected (if you are in a period in which your immune response has not matured yet), even transmit this disease, but we will measure the effectiveness of the vaccine candidate based on its impact on the reduction of symptoms and the prevention of serious forms of the disease, she said.

Cuba has a complex epidemiological situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with an average number of 1,049 cases every day and up to 18 deaths in a day due to complications from this disease.

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