Cuba’s self-reliance is born of necessity. Relatively poor, especially after a year in which its tourist industry has been battered by the pandemic, and heavily isolated by US sanctions, the country would have struggled to secure supplies of the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines in particular. Rather than join Covax Cuba has used its decades-long expertise in biotechnology to develop and produce its own . By the end of this year, there’s no doubt the population [of Cuba] will be vaccinated – the first in Latin America and the Caribbean Dr Helen Yaffe, University of Glasgow “It’s partly or largely the result of a strategic development policy to invest in science and technology for social development,” said