Second-Degree Gynecologist Sarah Urgelles emphasized that in recent months, Cuba has witnessed a significant increase in Covid-19 cases and deaths among pregnant women.

In 2020, 75 percent of pregnant women who suffered from the disease were asymptomatic patients, but with the appearance of more infectious strains, many patients have evolved to serious stages of the disease, even some puerperal women died, according to the professor from the Luis Diaz Soto Military Hospital in Havana.

During a TV press conference, the doctor pointed out that pregnant women with some comorbidity have more chances of getting worse after they become infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes Covid-19.

She also indicated that the period of biggest risk is between 26 and 32 weeks of pregnancy, a period when suffering from the disease can be very unfavorable.

Cuba has already started the vaccination of pregnant women over 19 years of age, in the second and third trimesters of their pregnancy, as well as women who are breastfeeding.

About 9,000 pregnant women will be vaccinated with Abdala, the first vaccine developed in Latin America that shows 92.28 percent of efficacy in phase III trials and received authorization from the regulatory authority for emergency use.

The Abdala vaccine was developed by the Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Center (CIGB), and will be administered at intervals of zero, 14 and 28 days.

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