Cuba on Monday became the first country in the world to vaccinate children from the age of two against Covid-19, using home-grown jabs not recognized by the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The communist island of 11.2 million people aims to inoculate all its children before reopening schools that have been closed for the most part since March 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new school year started on Monday, but from home via television programs, as most Cuban homes do not have internet access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having completed clinical trials on minors with its Abdala and Soberana vaccines, Cuba kicked off its inoculation campaign for children on Friday, starting with those 12 and older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, it started distributing jabs in the 2-11 age group in the central province of Cienfuegos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several other countries in the world are vaccinating children from the age of 12, and some are conducting trials in younger kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Countries such as China, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela have announced they plan to vaccinate younger children, but Cuba is the first to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chile on Monday approved the Chinese Sinovac vaccines for children between six and 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Cuban vaccines, the first developed in Latin America, have not undergone international, scientific peer review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They are based on recombinant protein technology — the same used by the United States\u2019 Novavax and France\u2019s Sanofi jabs also awaiting WHO approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike many other shots in use, recombinant vaccines do not require extreme refrigeration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The majority of schools in Cuba have been closed since March 2020, reopening for a few weeks at the end of last year before closing again in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UN agency UNICEF has called for schools worldwide to reopen as soon as possible, as \u201cthe long-term costs of closures are too high and hard to justify.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cuba has seen an explosion in coronavirus infections in recent months, putting pressure on its health system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of the 5,700 coronavirus deaths recorded since the outbreak started, nearly half were in the last month alone, as were almost a third of all reported cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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