Cuba expects high efficacy of dosmestic COVID-19 vaccines

HAVANA - Cuba expects its domestic COVID-19 vaccines show high efficacy after the final stage of clinical trials, the country's biopharmaceutical authorities told a press conference Wednesday.

"Our locally produced coronavirus vaccines have demonstrated safety and effectiveness," said Eduardo Martinez, president of the state-owned company BioCubaFarma.

"We aspire that our vaccines surpass 50 percent of efficacy in keeping with the World Health Organization's standards," he added.

Vicente Verez, director general of Cuba's Finlay Institute of Vaccines, said that a clinical trial was expected to begin in the coming weeks to test the efficacy of domestic COVID-19 vaccine candidates in children.

On Wednesday, Cuba registered 1,191 COVID-19 cases and 12 more deaths related to the virus, with the totals standing at 144,514 and 977 respectively.

Nationwide, more than one million people have now received at least one dose of domestically manufactured COVID-19 vaccine candidates, local media reported.

The Caribbean nation expects to have immunized the country's entire population against COVID-19 by the second half of 2021.