Support for Cuba
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Support vaccination against COVID-19
Dear friends of Cuba,
Compatriots,
Once more, we turn to you appealing to your generosity to help Cuba in its vaccination efforts against SARs-COV-2 virus.
This time we are aiming to raise funds to buy disposable medical supplies such as syringes, needles - and related - to support the final phase of clinical trials of Cuban vaccine candidates Soberana-02 and Abdala developed by BioCubaFarma. As in previous campaigns, the funds raised will not be sent to Cuba; Instead, the disposable medical supplies will be purchased in Europe and shipped to the island.
As you know, Cuba's response to COVID-19 has been effective. With about 11,3M inhabitants, about 2 900 cases per million have been infected, and the death rate is about 21 cases per million. Many factors have determined the capacity of Cuba to give such a response to the pandemic. Essential has been the government's decision to put all available resources to fight the virus at different levels to avoid infection spreading, identify positive cases, and initiate treatment protocols.
However, it has not been easy for Cuba to ensure this level of response while maintaining the freeness, accessibility, and extensive coverage of the health system. This has been a constant challenge for a poor country that also faces a very tight commercial and financial USA blockade and is experiencing at the same time an important reduction in income from the touristic industry -its primary source of revenues.
Despite the hardships and the conditions imposed by the blockade, the country has not only increased PCR testing but also the development of the Cuban biotechnology has made possible that four vaccine candidates against SARs-COV-2 virus are currently under clinical trials. The candidates, named Soberana-01, Soberana-02, Mambisa and Abdala, have been developed abiding by good practices in keeping with international regulations and standards.
Specifically, Soberana-02 and Abdala have shown a high immune response against the virus during phase 1 and 2 of clinical studies and will pass to phase 3 – the last phase- in March. In phase 3, a larger number of Cubans will be vaccinated to determine these candidates' effectiveness. Cuba is in the position to produce 100 million vaccine doses after clinical trials end.
Funds from this appeal will support the final phase of Soberana-02 and Abdala's clinical trials and the Cuban population's vaccination strategy upon the clinical trials' conclusion. Specifically, funds from this campaign will be used to buy disposable medical supplies such as syringes, needles and related which impose expensive additional costs to the country given the amounts needed and the necessity to purchase them in the international market.
We can help Cuba by contributing to this campaign. We can help the world by helping Cuba.
As before, we aim to raise £25 000 to buy about a quart of million syringes.
You can read about how we used the funds from our previous successful campaign in this link Building Ventilators for Patients with COVID-19.
Please, make your contribution today and share this campaign with your friends and relatives.
Dr Valia Rodriguez, Dr Miriam Palacios & Daniesky Acosta
This is an initiative of Cubanos en UK
Dr Valia Rodriguez is a Cuban medical doctor and academic currently residing in the United Kingdom.
Dr Miriam Palacios is a Cuban scientist resident in the United Kingdom.
Daniesky Acosta is a Cuban graphic designer and filmmaker resident in the United Kingdom. He is also the general coordinator of "Cubanos en UK".
