Cuba punches above its weight to develop its own Covid vaccines

Island hit by biggest economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union has two vaccines in phase three clinical trials

Hit by the double whammy of US sanctions and a pandemic, Cuba is going through its gravest economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Pharmacy shelves are barren. People queue for hours to buy chicken. It’s hard to find bread.

And yet this island under siege could become the smallest country in the world to develop its own coronavirus vaccines. Of the 27 coronavirus vaccines in final stage testing around the world, two are Cuban.

Related: Cubans lose access to vital dollar remittances after latest US sanctions

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