Cuba is the first country in the world to vaccinate children from two years of age against Covid, using locally produced serums not recognized by the World Health Organization. The Caribbean island, where 11.2 million people live, aims to vaccinate all children before reopening schools, most of which have been closed since March 2020. The new school year has just begun, but from home via TV programs, as most Cuban homes do not have access to the Internet.
After completing clinical trials on minors with its Abdala and Soberana vaccines, Cuba began the vaccination campaign for children 12 and older on Friday. Yesterday he then started distributing the serum in the age group 2-11 years in the central province of Cienfuegos.
Countries like China, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela have announced they want to vaccinate even the youngest children, but Cuba is the first to do so. Cuban vaccines, the first developed in Latin America, have not undergone international scientific peer review.
The health authorities of Chile, on the other hand, have approved the emergency use of the vaccine produced by the Chinese laboratory Sinovac (Coronavac) in children over six years of age. “By protecting our children, we also protect our adults. The data already shows that infections in children are on the rise. It is necessary to extend immunization to this age group”, announced the director of the Institute of Public Health ( Ips), Heriberto Garcìa. With five votes in favor and three against, the experts gave the green light to vaccinate children with Coronavac, making it the second vaccine used for minors after Pfizer, injected into children between 12 and 17 since June.