By Alejandra Garcia on July 30, 2023
In the last three years, Cuba and Mexico have become closer than ever before in meaningful ways. The history of brotherhood between the two countries is long-standing. But since the onset of the pandemic, collaboration in the health sector has given new impetus to bilateral relations and the closeness between the two peoples.
At the end of last year, two Cuban Anti-Covid vaccines were approved by Mexico for use in pediatric ages: the Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus vaccines. And this Saturday, it made news that the New Molecules Committee (CMN), an auxiliary agency of Mexico’s Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (Cofepris), qualified the Cuban immunizers as “favorable for emergency use.”
We need to go back in time to understand the dimension of what this communique represents for Cuba. Amid the health crisis unleashed by COVID-19, Cuba focused its efforts and resources on developing not one but five potential vaccines to protect its population from that deadly disease, which from 2020 to 2022 alone caused the death of more than 8,000 Cubans. Three candidates became vaccines: Soberana 02, Soberana Plus and Abdala.
The “Soberanas” were developed by the Cuban Finlay Vaccine Institute. They are based on technologies from the 1980s that have produced biologics used worldwide and are certified as particularly effective in producing a strong immune response in children.
This feat shows that Cuba was a key player in the global response to the coronavirus pandemic and has contributed significantly to the fight against the disease on a national and international scale. However, long after the island immunized more than 90 percent of its population, who also received the doses voluntarily and free of charge, some world powers and medical agencies question the validity and efficacy of Cuban immunizers solely for political reasons.
Since the beginning of the world health crisis, Mexico has been a great supporter of the island. It resolutely opposes the U.S. blockade, has backed Cuban leaders, and has criticized media campaigns that try to discredit Cuba’s scientific and medical potential.
On October 14, 2021, the Mexican government announced the signature of a bilateral agreement that allowed the purchase the following year of 9 million doses of the Cuban vaccine Abdala to immunize children between 5 and 11 years of age against covid-19, which was also classified as favorable by Mexican medical authorities.
Mexico became one of the first countries worldwide to authorize the emergency use of Abdala, which has not yet been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).
In 2022, the federal government also signed a health cooperation agreement with the Republic of Cuba that includes training Mexican specialists in the Caribbean island and hiring over 500 Cuban doctors to work in the northern country. Earlier this year, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that the Cuban medical personnel would be doubled.
AMLO’s support for Cuba shows a lot of courage. Any country or political figure that openly helps Cuba is attacked and rediculed as part of Washington’s hostile policy towards the island and the anti-Cuban hate campaigns emanating especially from Florida. However, the Mexican president sees through it and does not understand hate.
“I see in Miguel Díaz-Canel an extraordinary president; a hard-working, honest, and humble man, and a key figure to seek the unity of the entire continent and the economic integration with North America. We not accept any claims from the U.S. government for exercising our right to be free and sovereign. Our friendship with Cuba is just beginning,” the Mexican president has assured.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English