Mexico City : Cuba has approved two more coronavirus vaccines for use, the second and the third developed by the Caribbean island state, said dpa international.
The combination of two doses of the Soberana 02 vaccine and one dose of Soberana Plus had prevented symptomatic cases of Covid-19 with 91.2 per cent effectiveness in phase-3 trials, according to the government.
The state-run Centre for the Control of Medicines and Medical Devices (Cecmed) announced on Friday it had issued emergency approval for both vaccines.
Soberana 02 was jointly developed by institutions in Cuba and Iran. Iran had already granted emergency approval for the jab, called Pasteurcovac there.
In July, Cuba granted emergency approval to its first self-developed Covid-19 vaccine Abdala, the first vaccine against the coronavirus to be developed and approved in Latin America.
Both Abdala and Soberana 02 are so-called subunit vaccines made from processed proteins of the pathogen. Three doses are administered for full vaccination protection.
Although Cuba has a lot of experience in developing vaccines, the results of the Abdala and Soberana 02 studies have not yet been independently verified.
The country is currently struggling with a severe surge in cases, with record numbers of infections and deaths registered daily.
On top of that, the health sector has been hit by a shortage of equipment and medicines due to an economic crisis.
