Can Cuba Become the 1st Latin American Country to Develop Its Own COVID Vaccine?

Racing towards becoming the first country in Latin America to develop its own shot against COVID-19, Cuba is now on its stage-three clinical trial with its two domestically produced coronavirus vaccines.

Despite being under a strict United States trade embargo for decades, the island of 11 million individuals is developing five experimental shots, including Soberana 02 and Abdala, that reached the final stage trials last month.

According to Aljazeera, the names of the vaccines reveal much about how Cuba, as a country, sees the national effort.

The two vaccines that reached the final stage of trials were derived based on the country's history and culture. Soberana can be translated as "sovereign," while the Abdala was named after a patriotic poem written by the revolutionary hero of Cuba, Jose Marti.

The director-general of the state-owned Finlay Institute of Vaccines in Havana, Vicente Vérez Bencomo, praised the quality of the vaccines.

The facility is where Soberana 02, one of Cuba's most advanced vaccine candidates, was created. Bencomo thinks that the chances of domestically produced vaccines are good, Nature reported.

According to local reports, an estimated 44,000 individuals will receive the Soberana 02 vaccine, and around 48,000 volunteers have been recruited for the trial of the Abdala vaccine.

Reports further noted that an additional 150,000 shots of the Soberana 02 would be given to Cuba's frontline workers.

Homegrown COVID Vaccines in Cuba

The Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, which is the developer of the Abdala vaccine, hopes that the vaccine will have "effective results" from the trial by early June. The expected month for the results of the Soberana 02 trial to come out is this May.

The head of the International Relations at the Finlay Vaccine Institute, Ricardo Perez, told Al Jazeera that there are already positive preliminary results.

He added that these results might allow them to present a dossier to the Cuban authorities that would enable them to request approval for emergency use of the product by next month.

The director of Biomedical Research at the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Dr. Gerardo Guillen, also told Al Jazeera that the candidate vaccines have high levels of trust among the Cuban population.

He noted that "health is universal and free," which is why the centers do not profit from having access to these vaccines.

Cuba is targeting to finish its inoculation before the year ends. The Finlay Institute said that it could produce 100 million doses of the Soberana 02 vaccine this year.

The said number aims to satisfy the country's demand and have extra vaccines that can be exported to other countries who are in need, Indian Express reported.

The ambitious goal of Cuba in terms of pharmaceutical and biotech industries has a decades-long history. The country has already produced numerous vaccines, including jabs for Hepatitis B and Meningitis B.

Cuba economist Ricardo Torres revealed that the country has been developing vaccines since the 80s. Despite having a poor and dysfunctional economy, Torres noted that the Cuban government has managed to develop an important technological platform that a small country needs.

WATCH: Cuban "Soberana 02" Vaccine to Start Phase III Trials - From TeleSUR English