Cuba's Covid-19 vaccine goes into last stage trials

In a bold move to reboot the nation's economy and protect the population, Cuba is close to hiring off its first few in-house Covid-19 vaccines.Cuba is developing four homegrown Covid-19 vaccine doses, two of which are set to start Phase III trials. The news arrives at a crucial time as cases and deaths spike on the communist-run island following the government's decision to reopen foreign travelers' borders in December.READ MORE COVID-19 RELATED NEWS HEREThroughout 2020 the Caribbean nation led to keep the spread of the pandemic slightly under control, but February 2021 became the country's most dangerous month with as many as 108 deaths and 7642 new cases, as per the Cuban administration's statistics.If successful, the country's vaccines could help boost an administration that has been hit hard by the pandemic and exciting drop in tourism over the past year.READ MORE COVID-19 RELATED NEWS HERETwo of the island's vaccine applicants are selected Soberana – Spanish for sovereignty. The living two can also be described as Abdala, after a poem composed by innovative Cuban hero Jose Marti, and Mambisa, referring to Cuban independents who also fought for freedom against the Spanish.As developing countries cope with far richer nations for a limited supply of vaccines, Cuba's risky venture to produce its own competitors can be viewed as a display of civic pride as much as it is a response that too to a public health crisis.READ MORE COVID-19 RELATED NEWS HEREThe Cuban government has said that Soberana-2 will commence Phase III trials on 44,000 participants in March.Both vaccines are also conventional conjugate vaccines in which part of the coronavirus spike protein is fused to a carrier molecule to boost its stability and efficacy.READ MORE COVID-19 RELATED NEWS HERE If the trials prove strong, BioCubaFarma said it could build 100m doses by the end of 2021.Officials say Cuba will expel excess lots of its Covid-19 vaccines at a cost price plus a small margin to help its healthcare system. Patents may be licensed abroad for products and vaccines given to the poorest countries.