Cuba to Vaccinate Toddlers above 2 Years against Coronavirus

Cuba, an island-state in central America has become the first country in the world to vaccinate toddlers above the age of two against the Coronavirus (known also as COVID-19).

Medial authorities in Cuba use two locally-made vaccines that have not been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) yet.

The island of an 11.2 million population aims to vaccinate all its children before reopening its schools, which have been closed almost continuously since March 2020.

The new school year began in Cuba yesterday, but from homes through educational television programs because the Internet service is not available in most homes.

After completing clinical trials on minors using the Abdullah and Sopirana vaccines, Cuba began its campaign to vaccinate children on Friday, starting with those over 12 years old.

Many other countries in the world vaccinate children over the age of 12, while some countries are conducting clinical trials on younger children.

The Cuban vaccines are the first to be developed in Latin America and have not been subject to international scientific review.

Cuban vaccines rely on recombinant protein technology, the same technology used in the American "Novavax" and French "Sanofi" vaccines, which in turn are awaiting approval by the World Health Organization.

Unlike many other vaccines used against COVID-19, recombinant vaccines do not require deep refrigeration.

However, the agency, Prensa Latina, said that the Cuban "Abdullah" vaccine against the Coronavirus successfully, went through the third phase of clinical trials, showed its 100% effectiveness against difficult cases of Covid disease.

The agency quoted Martha Ayala, director of the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology that designed the vaccine as saying that   data on the effectiveness of the vaccine has already been obtained in the third phase of clinical trials, and these results are excellent."

Ayala added that it was decided to increase the number of participants in the test group, to 300,000 people.

Earlier, the State Center for the Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (CECMED) in Cuba, authorized the emergency use of the Abdulla vaccine.

In the second half of June, Cuba announced the completion of clinical trials of the vaccine, and its effectiveness against the transmission of symptoms of the Coronavirus was 92.28%.