Cuba to upgrade homegrown COVID-19 vaccine to confront Omicron
VOV's correspondent in the US -
(VOVWORLD) - Cuban health authorities said that Cuban researchers are upgrading its homegrown COVID vaccines to ensure protection against new variant Omicron.
 A Cuban medical worker is about to inject the Soberana 2 vaccine to volunteers in La Habana in March 2021. (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
Vicente Verez, the Director of Cuba's Finlay Institute for Vaccines, said on state-run media it was clear that Cuba's Soberana vaccine would continue to provide "a certain level of protection" against Omicron. He said researchers have started developing a Soberana Plus variant having the Omicron RBD protein. He reaffirmed Cuba’s strategy to be one step ahead of and responsive to all emergency situations in the fight against COVID-19.
Cuba has yet to detect the Omicron variant, but earlier this week announced it would tighten restrictions beginning Dec. 4 for passengers from certain African countries due to the new variant.
VOV's correspondent in the US