Cuba upgrading Domestic Soberna COVID vaccine against Omicron

Cuban Health Ministry informed that the researchers are working on upgrading its homegrown COVID-19 vaccine – Soberna, against the new variant ‘Omicron’. 

Vicente Verez – the director of Cuba’s Finlay Institute for Vaccines, cited that, “We decided as of last week to commence developing a Soberana Plus variant having the Omicron RBD protein. We have already started it, and that protein is being built at the moment“.  

While so far, more than 23 countries have reported the new COVID-19 variant, which is predicted to be more dangerous than the earlier ones.

WHO cautioned the countries, asking people to get themselves vaccinated as soon as possible, and strictly abide by the COVID-19 health protocols and guidelines. 

Several studies are being conducted by researchers in the South African nations, which will be able to reveal how transmissible this new variant is. 

The Cuban government has already put travel restrictions on eight South African countries as a safety measure.  

It is also being said that Omicron decreases the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines by atleast three times, to which many global drug manufacturers such as – BioNTech expressed their confidence, noting their vaccines would give strong protection against Omicron.  

Yet, no infection of the new variant has been found in the Caribbean island. 

Cuba was the first country in the world to inoculate toddlers with the COVID-19 vaccine doses. 

The vaccination rate in Cuba: 

As per the statistics, 89.8 percent of the islands’ total population has been vaccinated by taking atleast one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while, on the other hand, 81.4 percent of its total adult population has received the required amount of vaccine doses and are now fully vaccinated against the deadliest virus.  

The government is advising the general public to stay calm and strictly follow the health guidelines issued by them and take their vaccine jabs so as to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.