This week Cuba began vaccinating two-year-olds against covid-19, becoming the first country in the world to inoculate young children.. At least 12 young children have died from covid-19 in Cuba this year, while there were no child deaths from the disease in that country during 2020, according to the Miami Herald.
Cuba developed its own covid-19 vaccine, a two-shot regimen known as Sovereign 2 that has an effective 91.2% after a reinforcement called Sovereign Plus, according to studies in the country that have not yet been peer-reviewed. Cuba developed its own vaccine, a point of pride for Cubans, because of the harsh sanctions still imposed by the U.S., a former control of the first Cold War.
Cuba, which averages approximately 8,000 new cases of covid-19 each day, reported 3,727 new cases of covid-19 in children on Monday and Tuesday alone, according to the Miami Herald, including 236 infants and 16 newborns.
Vaccination of children will be vital in stopping the global pandemic, mainly because children account for an increasing share of cases. There were at least 243,000 cases of covid-19 in children Sept. 2-9 in the U.S., according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, which accounts for approximately 29% of all cases in the country. Compared to the percentage of cases in children since the onset of the pandemic last year, 15%, the virus is clearly making its way among unvaccinated children at an alarming rate.
“After declining in early summer, children’s cases have increased exponentially, with nearly 500,000 cases in the past two weeks,” the AAP said, according to the University of Minnesota Infectious Diseases Research and Policy Center.
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The youngest able to be vaccinated in most countries are between 12 and 16 years old, and the United States has authorized the Pfizer covid-19 vaccine for 12-year-olds in May. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are still only authorized for those over the age of 18 in the US
Major U.S. vaccine manufacturers have not yet filed applications to use their shots on children, but this is expected autumn or winter. But American babies will not be able to be vaccinated against covid-19 soon. Children as young as five are the next generation group that the FDA could get approval for covid-19 vaccination.
“If you look at the studies we do in the (National Institutes of Health) in collaboration with pharmaceutical companies, there will be enough data to apply for an emergency use authorization by Pfizer, a little later for Modern, “Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN Tuesday.
“I think both of them, with Pfizer first, will probably be able to have a situation where we can vaccinate children. If the FDA judges the data enough enough, we could do it in the fall, ”Fauci said.
The United States on Wednesday reported 170,109 new cases of covid-19 and 2,584 new deaths from the disease.