MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina interested in manufacturing Cuban vaccine against covid-19

Argentine FM Solá (r) and Ambassador Prada (l) discussed Cuban medical developments

Argentine Foreign Minister Felipe Solá Wednesday discussed with Cuba's Ambassador to Buenos Aires the possibility of developing locally a Cuban-created vaccine against covid-19, it was announced.

“Our country awaits the completion of the talks at the presidential level with the objective that once they are concluded, to be able to accelerate the possible agreement,” Solá said in a statement after meeting with Ambassador Pedro Pablo Prada.

Argentina is also interested in a Cuban drug for nasal use that prevents a high percentage of viruses from entering the mucosa, the statement went on.

Argentine Health Minister Carla Vizzotti is said to be in contact with the developers of Cuban vaccines, exchanging scientific information to advance cooperation.

Prada said on Twitter that Cuba and Argentina are working together for a better, healthier world, without unjust inequalities and more solidarity.

The Caribbean island has five vaccine candidates of its own, Soberana 01, Soberana 02 and Soberana PLUS, in addition to Abdala and Mambisa, two of which are progressing satisfactorily in phase III of clinical trials.

If these negotiations are finalized, Cuba's Soberana - which is already said to have reached phase 3 - will be the third coronavirus vaccine to be produced in the country, after the agreements signed with AstraZeneca and Sputnik V.

Since the beginning of this week, more than seven million Argentines have been vaccinated: some 6.32 million received one dose of some of the vaccines that arrived in the country, while 872,133 have already been immunized with the two doses, according to the Public Vaccination Monitor.

“We are making available the possibility of advancing with clinical trials or the production of the vaccine in Argentina,” Cecilia Nicolini, a presidential advisor to Alberto Fernández said in a radio interview. She also revealed Fernández has already discussed the matter with his Cuban colleague Miguel Díaz-Canel. “I offered him to work together so that all of Latin America can access a vaccine,” Fernández had said.

But Nicolini added that for the time being, “we are waiting for more information.”