Cuba becomes first country to start COVID vaccination for children aged 2 yrs and above

Cuba started inoculating children above 2 years with COVID-19 vaccine jabs on 6 September, making it the first country in the world to start vaccinating children below the age of six.

Cuba started inoculating its home-grown jabs, which are yet to be recognised by the World Health Organization (WHO), to infants, according to a report by Insider. Earlier on 2 September, the country had started inoculating children above 12 years of age. This came after Cuba completed clinical trials on minors with its Abdala and Soberana vaccines. According to reports, Cuba's home-grown vaccines have not undergone scientific peer review. 

Cuba to reopen schools from October end

According to the Insider report, the Cuban government plans to inoculate all children before winter. The report also claimed that authorities were in the mood to reopen classrooms from October end or November. Educational institutions have been closed in the country since the first COVID-19 infection was detected in March 2020. Schools have started a new session from Monday via television programs, due to lack of internet penetration.

In 2019, approximately 61.8% of the island's population had an internet connection. However, despite this, low internet speed has always been a major obstacle for video classes. Earlier China, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela announced their plans to vaccinate infants. However, Cuba has become the first to start vaccinating toddlers. Notably, several other countries are currently vaccinating their minors, while several others are conducting clinical trials. Recently, Chile approved the Chinese Sinovac vaccines for children aged between six and 12.

WHO urges nations to get teachers jabbed against COVID-19

Earlier, on 30 August the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) appealed to countries to prioritise the inoculation of COVID-19 vaccines for teachers and staff involved in managing schools. The agencies stressed the importance of education and appealed to open schools throughout the pandemic.

It asked authorities concerned to make the school a safe place by adopting measures to minimise transmission of the virus. The agencies appealed to authorities to offer the vaccine to school staff as part of the target population groups in their respective national vaccination plans while ensuring the immunisation of vulnerable populations.

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