Boston archbishop meets vaccine experts in Cuba

The Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley, met on Thursday with an elite group of Cuban scientists who showed him locally-produced COVID-19 vaccine candidates.

O'Malley, who maintains a strong bond with Latin American immigrant communities in the US, visited the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB) in Havana.

He said he was "grateful" to know that scientists in Cuba are collaborating with counterparts in the United States.

Mayda Mauri Pérez, vice president of Cuba's state-owned BioCubaFarma company, said O'Malley's visit could contribute to vaccine development.

BioCubaFarma has created several vaccine candidates, three of which have already been approved by national health authorities.

With the Abdala and Soberana vaccines in circulation, Cuba became the only country in Latin America that has developed a vaccine for the virus.

Despite the vaccination efforts, thousands of daily COVID-19 cases are recorded by authorities, putting the healthcare system under pressure.

Cuba is the only country in Latin America to have developed its own vaccines against COVID-19 — three of them so far — and it is hoping to win World Health Organization approval for their use in other nations.

The cardinal planned to visit the Dominican Republic later Thursday and then head to Haiti to observe aid efforts for victims of the recent earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people.