Statement: Tehran, Havana cooperation in making COVID19 vaccine, strategic

'Cuba and Iran have a long history of cooperation in the biotechnology sector. In particular, the collaboration between the Finlay Vaccine Institute of Cuba and the Pasteur Institute of Iran on the Covid-19 vaccine is based on a strategic relationship in the field of research and development of vaccine technologies,' the statement reads.

'Based on the successful development by the Finlay Institute of the SOBERANA 02 vaccine against COVID-19 and that it uses the same technological platform of the Cuban anti-pneumococcal vaccine, which had been the subject of a Technology Transfer Agreement, both institutions agreed to include in the said contract the transfer of technology for the production in Iran of SOBERANA 02, it added.

'Intensive weekly scientific discussions between managers and scientists from the two institutes related to clinical trials, the transfer process, and production optimization have continued this year,' the Iranian and Cuban vaccine producers said adding that the cooperation includes the joint production of the vaccine in Iran following a phase III clinical trial in this country.

'The cooperation of these two prestigious Cuban-Iranian institutions will have a positive impact on the health of the population of both countries,' they reiterated.

Earlier, Iran-Cuba joint COVID-19 vaccine project manager Ehsan Mostafavi said that the vaccine which is known as Pasteurcovac in Iran and Soberana-2 in Cuba has proved 62 percent effective based on results from the second-dose injections in the third phase of the clinical test which was done in Cuba.

Dr. Mostafavi stressed that none of the existing vaccines are 100 percent effective, as some of the people receiving them are infected again and some rare cases of severe infection and death are reported.

Global regulators have announced over 50 percent effectiveness as acceptable and the effectiveness of a vaccine depends on different factors, including its design and production and the types of viruses in circulation.

9376**1424

Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish