COVID-19: Cuba plans to vaccinate all 2 years and older by December

Cuba begins vaccinating teens against COVID-19 this week and young children from mid-September as it aims to vaccinate 90% of the population by December, state-run media said on Wednesday.

All children aged 2 to 18 will receive at least two doses of the Cuban-developed Soberana-2 vaccine starting from September 3 onwards.

Ileana Morales- A Health ministry official stated that the COVID-19 vaccination will be done similar to the annual vaccine campaigns. He said the drive will take place at hundreds of community based clinics.

According to the state-owned Finlay Institute studies of vaccine in minors have found that it is safe and triggers a stronger immune response in children than in adults

The decision was declared at a weekly meeting of leaders and scientists to confront the pandemic on the communist-run Caribbean island, which is currently struggling with a delta-variant-driven current that has strained its health system and the young population much more.

In the past week, Cuba had average cases between 6,500 and 7,000 per day and 70 to 80 deaths, significantly down from a few weeks but still one of the highest rates in the world in terms of cases per 100,000 residents.

The vaccination of the adult population mainly with another locally developed shot, Abdala, is strengthened with the aim of ensuring that all eligible adults have at least started with the three-shot treatment by the end of the month.

Cubans are desperate to get their children back to school after months of homeschooling

The country lacks everything, from food and medicine to parts and input for power plants in agriculture due to the harsh US sanctions. As Cuba posses a tourism based economy, taming the disease before the beginning of tourism season is important.

Both Cuban vaccines, with a reported efficiency of more than 90%, have been approved by local regulators for emergency use, although the data have not yet been published in peer-reviewed journals.

In the capital, Havana, where more than 60% of the 2.2 million inhabitants are fully vaccinated, cases and deaths per 100,000 inhabitants are far below the national average, according to government statistics.

At present, about 50% of Cuba's 11.3 million inhabitants have received at least one dose of vaccination, with more than 3.5 million fully vaccinated.