Cuba will begin vaccinating children up to 2 years old against the coronavirus this week, making it the only country so far that has immunized such young children.
Currently, the United States and many European countries allow vaccination against Covid-19 for children 12 years of age or older. U.S. regulators could authorize a vaccine for children ages 5 to 12 later this year.
Chile has begun vaccinating children 6 years of age and older. Now China and the UAE are vaccinating 3-year-olds.
Cuba’s health regulator, the State Control Center for Medicines and Medical Devices, approved pediatric vaccination in early September. Last week, the country began vaccinating 13- to 17-year-olds.
Coronavirus cases are skyrocketing in Cuba, as the Delta variant is spreading rapidly throughout the island. Cuba has recently reported an average of 70 new infections per day per 100,000 residents, one of the highest rates in the Western Hemisphere.
Cuban children are being immunized with Soberana 2 and Soberana Plus, two vaccines developed nationwide. Clinical trials in adults and, to some extent, in children, have shown that the combination is more than 90% effective in protecting against coronavirus, Cuban officials have reported. But trial data have not been published in peer-reviewed international journals.
Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, deputy director of the Pan American Health Organization, a division of the World Health Organization, called on Cuba to “publish the data in a transparent manner” in June.
“There are many things to do, there is a need and they use established technology,” Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the Baylor College of Medicine’s National School of Tropical Medicine, said of the Cuban program. “But I’m concerned about the level of regulatory oversight.”
Cuban scientists said they have submitted articles to peer-reviewed journals and are pending publication. They stressed that Sovereign vaccines use a technology similar to that already used in Cuban vaccines against other diseases.
“This is not an unprecedented RNA vaccine that is given to children,” said Dr. Vicente Vérez, the lead developer of the vaccines.
Early tests in children have shown only routine side effects and “a high degree of safety, which is the most important thing,” said Dr. José Moya, representative of the Pan American Health Organization in Cuba.
Cuban schools have been closed for most of the pandemic, and the high cost of Internet access has made online learning impossible for most children. Frustrated officials and parents want the children back in school, but the reopening of classrooms has been repeatedly postponed.
To date, 56 percent of Cuba’s population has received at least one dose of Covid vaccine and 37 percent are fully vaccinated. The country’s health ministry aims to vaccinate more than 90% of the population in December.
The pandemic has pushed Cuba’s caulked health system to a breaking point. Drug shortages, medical oxygen tests and coronaviruses have raised social tensions, sparking anti-government protests in July. Mexico sent supplies of oxygen to Cuba last month and U.S. activists sent two million syringes.
US economic sanctions imposed during the Trump administration they have slowed down vaccination efforts making the import of materials more complicated and costly. Production of Sovereign 2 stopped for weeks in the spring when supply of a vital component declined, Dr. Vérez said.