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First in world, Cuba starts COVID jabs for toddlers

Misbah Ali

Cuba on September 6, 2021 became the first country in the world to inoculate children from the age of two against the coronavirus, using the homegrown shots not recognized by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The communist island with a population of 11.2 million aims to inoculate all its children before reopening schools that have been moved to online classes for the most part since March 2020.

The new school year began on September 6, 2021, but from home through television programs, as most Cuban homes do not have internet access.

After completing the critical clinical trials of its Abdala and Soberana vaccines on minors, Cuba launched its vaccination campaign for children on September 3, 2021, beginning with those 12 years and older.

On September 6, it began distributing vaccines in the 2-11 age groups in the central province of Cienfuegos.

Many other nations across the globe are inoculating children from the age of 12, and few are conducting trials in younger kids.

Nations such as China, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela have informed that they plan to inoculate younger children, but Cuba is the earliest to do so.

Chile on September 6, 2021 gave a nod to the Chinese Sinovac vaccines for children between six and 12.

The Cuban vaccines that were first developed in Latin America have not gone through international, scientific peer review.

They are based on recombinant protein technology—the same used by the United States’ Novavax and Franc’s Sanofi jabs also waiting for WHO nod.

Unlike many other doses in use, recombinant vaccines do not require refrigeration on an extreme level.

Most of the schools in Cuba have been shut since March 2020, reopening for a few weeks at the end of last year before shutting again in January.

The Cuban government has announced that only after all children have been inoculated, the schools will reopen gradually in October and November.

UN agency UNICEF has called for schools across the world to reopen as soon as possible, as “the long-term costs of closures are too high and hard to justify.”

Cuba has witnessed an explosion in COVID-19 infections in recent months, putting pressure on its health care system.

Out of 5,700 COVID-19 fatalities reported since the outbreak began, nearly half were in the last month alone, as were almost a third of all reported cases.


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