Nov, 2025.- Ilenay Yero Salgado, a second-year resident in the General Comprehensive Medicine (GMI) specialty, and Melissa Escobedo Palmero, a higher education nurse, are informing the elderly residents of the Progreso neighborhood in Guáimaro about the booster vaccination against Covid-19 with Abdala.
“We want this information to be known firsthand, which is why we visit the homes in the community, also to facilitate the administration of the vaccine,” says the young doctor from Family Doctor's Office No. 6.
Nurse Melissa also impresses with her youth and even more so with her willingness to explain the benefits of the formulation developed against SARS-CoV-2 by the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) of Cuba.
“Those who are not allergic to iodine and thiomersal will be able to get vaccinated,” she explains to residents over 60 years old, who have the opportunity this week to boost their protection against the virus that triggered a global pandemic in 2020.
In the capital of the easternmost municipality of Camagüey, the reactivation of the immunogen is progressing, a process that should conclude before the end of the year to subsequently begin in remote popular councils.
“It was decided to start with the most vulnerable at-risk groups: health personnel, pregnant women, and adults over 60 years old. At a later date, which we will announce in due course, we will continue with the rest of the population,” says Dr. Adiané Bueno Ramos, director of the Victoria de Girón polyclinic.
The family medicine specialist also acknowledges the benefits of Abdala, the first vaccine of its kind in Latin America with emergency use authorization and a high efficacy of 92.28% against symptomatic illness; 100% in the prevention of severe systemic disease and the death of vaccinated individuals; and a 90% effectiveness in severe patients, according to clinical studies.
“From the beginning, some people have refused immunization against the virus, and they have that right, but my recommendation is not to refrain from getting vaccinated.
“All of us who worked with Covid experienced the bitter reality of death, of people with complications, of those on ventilators... very hard things that we no longer see thanks to the vaccine,” comments Bueno Ramos.
Photos by the author.
