Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.- The third phase of the clinical trials of Abdala Covid-19 vaccine candidate started on Monday in this city and the capital municipalities of Guantanamo and Granma with the injection of the first volunteers.

This critical step has been set in motion with 48,000 people in order to verify the security, immunogenicity and efficacy capabilities of this Cuban vaccine candidate, created at the laboratories of the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB).

Saturnino Lora General Hospital, located in this city of eastern Cuba, remains the epicenter of this process, whose first and second stages started in early December, 2020, with good results that indicate minimum adverse reactions related to pain in the injection area.

Students from the local medical university received the dose this morning, out of the 30,000 individuals that will be inoculated with the vaccine candidate in this city, 12,000 in Guantanamo and 2,000 in Bayamo, two provinces next to Santiago de Cuba.

It is important to highlight that this last territory has reported one of the most complex situations in the past few days due to the high number of Covid-19 cases after half a year without reporting that incidence.

CIGB scientists are closely monitoring the performance of this third phase, and healthcare workers in these three provinces are working for the application of good practices and the prevalence of the necessary rigor in each one of the planned procedures.