"Yes, we are ready. Cuba is ready to make our vaccines public domain, as Russia, China and other countries do. Joining COVAX is a definite process, first, we need to obtain WHO approval, we prepare all documents and data on clinical trials in order to receive its confirmation," the ambassador said when asked whether his country is ready to join the facility.
The diplomat also said that the Latin American nation had already developed five coronavirus vaccines, two of which had completed clinical trials, adding that their results will be published in the near future.
"This means that we will be able to start mass immunization of the population in the coming days. We hope that six million [out of some 11 million] Cuban citizens will be vaccinated by August, and we hope to vaccinate the entire population by the end of the year," Pereira Hernandez said.
Additionally, the ambassador said that Cuba expressed readiness to export coronavirus vaccines after their approval by the national regulator. More than 10 countries have already sent requests to obtain the vaccines, he noted.
The five vaccine candidates developed so far by Cuba include Soberana 01, Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus, developed by the Finlay Vaccine Institute, as well as Mambisa and Abdala, produced by the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, with very encouraging results. Earlier this week, the country announced the start of Abdala's mass production.
