While Argentina-born Cuban revolutionary hero Ernesto “Che” Guevara would be 93 on 14 June 2021, the island is finalising testing its domestically made anti-coronavirus vaccines as the end of the pandemic is nowhere in sight. Latin America experts have shed light on how Che and Fidel laid the ground for Cuba’s healthcare and biotech development.
Cuba’s biotechnological industry is gaining momentum amid the COVID outbreak despite US economic sanctions and constant political pressure. The nation’s Finlay Institute for Vaccines (IFV) has created three anti-COVID jabs, namely Soberana 01, Soberana 02, and Soberana Plus, while another two, Abdala and Mambisa, have been made by the Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB).