Soberana 02 in phase III clinical trials. What does it mean? The excellent results obtained so far with the Cuban vaccine candidate in phases I and II have allowed it to be one of the 23 that have started phase III of clinical trials in the world.
Tahimi Arboleya On March 3, the Center for the State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (CECMED) gave authorization for one of the Cuban vaccine candidates that are being developed to begin phase III of clinical trials in humans. Several of the main world media: The New York Times, CNN, BBC, El País reported the news. And the thing is that Cuba is included in a small list of countries—almost all of the first world—that have been able to develop vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2, and the first country in Latin America to reach this advanced phase of trials.
In order to be approved, vaccines must follow a strict protocol that includes the exploration stage, the pre-clinical trials and the clinical trials in humans, the latter, in turn, consisting of three phases.
Final approval for the use of vaccines in humans is granted by regulatory bodies in each country. These must have the status of Competent Authority for the vaccine regulatory system granted by the World Health Organization (WHO).
What has happened to the COVID-19 vaccines and what is an approval for emergency use?
The scientific community—public and private entities, research centers, universities, pharmaceutical companies, enterprises and NGOs—has collaborated as never before in the history of science and health to achieve a cure for a pandemic crisis. More than 100,000 scientific articles have been published on this subject. More than 4,800 ongoing studies on treatments and vaccines are registered. We know more about SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 than about other diseases that the scientific community has been studying for decades.
According to the WHO, until March 5 against were 79 COVID-19 vaccine candidates in clinical trials and 182 in pre-clinical trials. Several of these have been approved by the regulatory bodies of some countries and two vaccines (Pfizer and AstraZeneca/Oxford) are approved for emergency use by the WHO.
The development and approval of a vaccine is usually a long process that can take between 5 and 15 years, so many are surprised that just over a year after the start of what became the COVID-19 pandemic, there already are vaccines against the disease.
Several factors have influenced this: the priority given to it, the collaboration among the international scientific community, the achievement of rapid funding, the response of the regulatory bodies to redesign protocols that allow the overlap of some phases, and the development achieved by biotechnology in the world.
Biden Must Reprogram US Funds Assigned for Subversion in Cuba, Analysts Say By Alejandra Garcia on March 3, 2021
Photo: Bill Hackwell Of the never-ending list of U.S. measures against Cuba, much is said about the six-decade economic blockade. However, less attention is paid to the former U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to maintain the program that has allocated over $250 million in the last twenty years to covert subversion operations against the island.
On March 2, during a Zoom meeting called by Code Pink, the women-led organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, the Cuban attorney and political analyst Jose Pertierra focused on what he called, “one of the most disgusting components of the Helms-Burton Act: The Regime Change Section, also known by its euphemistic name of “Democracy Promoting Projects.”
Pertierra cited an article written by former National Intelligence Officer for Latin America Fulton Armstrong in which he described these ‘Cuba programs’ as those that were designed to identify, organize, train, and mobilize Cuban citizens to demand a political change in the island. “Those programs have an especially problematic heritage, including embezzlement, mismanagement, and systemic politicization,” the lawyer said, quoting Armstrong.
“The funds of about $20 million a year are used effectively and in a manner consistent with U.S. law. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) fought us at every turn, refusing to divulge even basic information about the programs, citing only a document of vague ‘program objectives.” Armstrong wrote.
According to Pertierra, those millions of dollars have created an industry of dissidents in both Miami and Havana.
Using the proceeds of the regime change programs, Miami-based dissidents have established themselves in cushy offices and earn inflated salaries. Their job is to instigate dissent in Cuba.
A tiny fraction of those millions make it to Cuba. What does that money buy? Pertierra said “it is used to pay people to march and protest. It creates amateur journalists who are on the payroll of US regime change projects. And it rewards those who, pretending to be artists or performers, use social media to express their dissatisfaction with the government. One so-called artist sat on a toilet with a Cuban flag draped across his shoulders, as he defecated on Facebook Live.” This individual is now a cause celebre on social media, Pertierra explained.
There is no accountability for the millions of dollars that are being spent on regime change programs because they are clandestine and covert.
“Some in Congress would have you believe the President has no discretion in how to spend those millions of dollars. However, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) decides how to use those funds. It can reprogram them, for example, to stimulate the Central American economies and thus dissuade potential immigrants from coming to this country. The White House could also ease the economic crisis caused by the pandemic and Trump’s mishandling of the health emergency,” the lawyer said.
“How would struggling Americans, who are facing possible eviction from their homes because they have lost their jobs in the midst of this pandemic, feel when they find out that their government is spending more than $20 million a year to pay Miami Cubans a salary to be professional dissidents against the Cuban government?” asked Pertierra.
The U.S. hostility is no news
For almost a century, “the successive administrations have created a tremendous hardship for the Cuban people. Trump just made it worse,” recalled Code Pink leaders during the Zoom meeting, as they regretted that President Joe Biden has not done anything to change the course of the relations between the two countries.
“How can we put pressure on the administration to take action via executive order? Code Pink asked Congressman Jim McGovern.
“We have a lot of work to do,” recognized McGovern. “I’m frustrated because Biden could do a lot more than what he has already done. There are some decisions he could make that don’t need congressional approval. For example, re-opening up our embassy in Havana.”
McGovern has been traveling to Cuba for decades. “In all these years, I never saw so much activity, excitement, creativity, innovation, in the Cuban people than during the last two years, after then-Presidents Obama and Raul Castro normalized relations in 2017. That year, Obama did what we had wanted the U.S. to do a long time earlier,” he explained.
Many people took advantage of those changes building stronger partnerships, collaborating with small businesses and artists, joining researches and studies, strengthening local farmers, urging U.S. people to explore Cuba’s opportunities and beauty.
“The possibilities seemed endless -McGovern said- until Trump came along to show us that everything could be worse than it once was. We realized that all could be undone, that the U.S. could go back to Cold War ideology.”
When asked to comment on Pertierra´s argument that the $20 million a year in regime change funds for Cuban dissidents could be reprogrammed to attend to the needs of the American people, Congressman McGovern agreed that it was something that should be done.
The U.S. must turn the page, said the Congressman. Trump is no longer president, and those who want to re-establish relations with Cuba are writing a new chapter. Now, with a new administration, “we have another chance to create a better future for both of our countries,” he said.
This is possible, Jose Pertierra added. “We just need to answer the following questions: What danger does Cuba really pose to the U.S.? Has Cuba ever tried to storm the Capitol? Have they spread lies about a presidential election? Or encouraged American citizens not to wear masks in the middle of a pandemic that has killed over half a million U.S. citizens?”
Cuba poses no threat to the United States, and everyone knows it. Now they need to act on that knowledge.
Governance based on science and innovation for sustainable development President Diaz-Canel co-authors article with Mercedes Delgado focused on innovation, information technology and the government’s role in integrating all social, economic and environmental dimensions of development, especially at the local level
Author: Ventura de Jesús | informacion@granma.cu march 5, 2021 08:03:37
Photo: José Manuel Correa More consistent growth, with an improved productive base, is an obligatory objective of government management in the pursuit of sustainable development for the present and future of Cubans.
This encouraging observation summarizes a recent article by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez and Mercedes Delgado Fernández, published on the Ministry of Economy and Planning website, under the title “Innovation-oriented government management: Context and characterization of the model.”
The text seeks to examine the exercise of government in a socialist society and specifically in Cuba, outlining a model that must be oriented toward innovation, with principles, components, management cycles and an evaluation system to serve this purpose.
Integrating economic, social and environmental dimensions
The text reaffirms a well-known thesis that has been established in other guiding documents: the Conceptualization of the socio-economic model for socialist development, the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines, and the National Economic and Social Development Plan through 2030, which constitute the foundation for the country’s vision, and along with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, combine the economic, social and environmental dimensions of the nation.
Stevie Wonder emigrará de EE. UU. ante clima político de su país (+Video) Según medios estadounidenses, esta no es la primera vez que el cantante considera mudarse a Ghana. En 1994 dijo que sentía que había «más sentido de comunidad» en ese país que en Estados Unidos
Autor: Redacción Internacional | internacionales@granma.cu 1 de marzo de 2021 00:03:36 Stevie Wonder
Foto: Tomada de Internet A través del programa de la periodista Oprah Winfrey, el famoso cantante estadounidense, Stevie Wonder, dio a conocer su decisión de emigrar de su país hacia Ghana, ante la agitación política y el racismo que vive esta nación.
De acuerdo con DW, el galardonado intérprete, natural de Michigan, dijo que le gustaría volver a ver sonreír a Estados Unidos, antes de marcharse a su nuevo destino.
El autor de éxitos como You are the sunshine of my life o I just called to say I love you, subrayó que no quiere que «los hijos de mis hijos tengan que decir: “Oh, por favor, cómo yo. Por favor, respétame, por favor, sé que soy importante, por favor, valórame”. ¿Qué es eso?».
Según medios estadounidenses, esta no es la primera vez que el cantante considera mudarse a Ghana. En 1994 dijo que sentía que había «más sentido de comunidad» en ese país que en Estados Unidos.
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