OREANDA-NEWS. Cuba has become the first country in the world that begin vaccinating young children against coronavirus. On Monday, September 6, in the province of Cienfuegos, vaccinations began to children aged 2 to 11 years. Local preparations Abdala and Soberana, which are not recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), are used for vaccination in Cuba.

Due to the pandemic, schools in Cuba have not opened since March 2020. Meanwhile, on September 6, a new academic year began, teaching is conducted through television due to the lack of Internet access for most families. The authorities plan to start a step-by-step opening of schools from October. By that time all children and adolescents should be vaccinated against coronavirus.

In many other regions of the world, including the EU countries, vaccination of children from the age of 12 continues. China, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela have announced that they will soon begin vaccinating young children.

Cuba has previously refused vaccines from Russia or China, and also does not participate in the COVAX program, which helps low-income countries receive drugs. The Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology of Cuba has developed it's own vaccine against COVID-19 called Abdala. In June, the Cuban authorities said that the drug Abdala in the third stage of clinical trials showed an effectiveness of 92.28 percent. To complete the full course of vaccination, you need to enter three doses intramuscularly at certain intervals. The effectiveness of Soberana, according to manufacturers, is 62 percent.

In recent months, Cuba has registered a sharp increase in patients with coronavirus in hospitals and the number of deaths. Of the approximately 5,300 deaths from COVID-19 in the island nation, almost half occurred last August. In total, about 673 thousand infected people have been identified in Cuba, about 95 thousand of them are children and adolescents.