Iran and Cuba work together on vaccine

Iran will partner with Cuba on Phase III trials of a Cuban coronavirus vaccine. The two countries signed an agreement for Cuba to transfer technology to Iran regarding its most advanced vaccine candidate, Soberana 2, enabling Iran to conduct the last stage, testing the vaccine’s efficacy on its population. Cuba will also be testing some 150,000 people during Phase III trials. Late last week, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei banned the government from importing vaccines from the US or UK, calling them “untrustworthy.” Iran is the Middle East’s hardest-hit country in terms of both total deaths from COVID-19 (56,100) and deaths per million population (663).