Young Cuban designs video game that recreates potential vaccine of Cuba against COVID19

HAVANA, Sep 13th  Young Cuban Sitting for hours in front of his home computer, a 12-year-old Cuban boy designed a video game that bets on the success of a potential Cuban vaccine to counter the deadly effect of the new coronavirus.Five months in quarantine at home due to the outbreak of the disease on the island seem to be enough for Carlos Renier Velázquez, who with special attention visualizes the screen with his glasses and mask on his face, beginning to play with a video called « Soberana01 vs SARS-COv2 «.

Sovereign 01 is the name designated for the island’s vaccine candidate, which is currently in the clinical trial phase in various groups of people in the country. According to health authorities, the immunization formula will include tests on 676 people between 19 and 80 years old and will be applied in two injectable doses.

« I created this game with the hope that, well, the vaccine will defeat the virus, the vaccine that our scientists created (…), » Velázquez said in his room very close to other toys and Cuban flags.

The screen of his team shows everything from a group of nurses administering the vaccine candidate to a simulation of the virus antigens, including the sneeze of a person very close to another on a street in danger of being infected with the virus.

« What he does is download, research and when he can connect to the internet, he goes in and investigates, he looks for what he needs, what he understands. He has always had that ability since he was little. He really knows how to handle the computer since he was three years old. « said Miralda González, the boy’s mother.

Velázquez is in sixth grade at a school in Havana, he is very intelligent and, it seems, his abilities are unlimited, he added. In his personal file, he has studied computer science and has also studied English and Chinese.

Cuba, which is in the presence of a new epidemic outbreak of the disease, announced January 11, 2021, as the date to complete the study of the vaccine and noted that the results will be released on February 15. So far there are 4,653 people diagnosed with COVID19, with 108 deaths.

« The news you have is the number of deaths, the number of infected and then it is something that psychologically affects people (…). A child who invents a game (…) gives us hope that someday we are going to get out of this bad thing that we are going through, « said González.

(. TV report. Written by Nelson Acosta)