HAVANA— Cuba became the very first country globally to administer COVID-19 vaccines for toddlers age two on Monday using home-grown jabs.
This island with an almost 11.2 million population aims to inoculate all of its children before reopening schools that have been closed since March 2020.
The new school year started on Monday via television programs from home since most Cubans do not have access to the Internet.
With its completed trials in Abdala and Soberana vaccines, Cuba started its campaign for children on Friday age from 12 and older. Then on Monday, the government started to administer the shots to children aged 2-11 in Cienfuegos.
Cuban vaccines, the first developed in Latin America, are yet to be approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The vaccines are the same as that of the Novavax from the US and Sanofi from France, which were all based on recombinant protein technology that does not require extreme refrigeration unlike other vaccines.
The Cuban government announced that they will gradually reopen schools in October and November but will be limited to children who are already vaccinated.
(PHOTO CREDIT: www.telesurenglish.net)