Cuba started vaccinating children as young as two years old against covid-19 this week, becoming the first country in the world to inoculate toddlers. At least 12 young kids have died from covid-19 in Cuba this year, while there were no infant 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 Soberana 2 that has an efficacy of 91.2% after a booster called Soberana Plus, according to studies in the country which haven’t yet been peer-reviewed. Cuba developed its own vaccine, a point of pride for Cubans, due to harsh sanctions still imposed by the U.S., an antiquated holdover from the first Cold War.
Cuba, which is averaging roughly 8,000 new covid-19 cases every day, reported 3,727 new covid-19 cases in children on Monday and Tuesday alone, according to the Miami Herald, including 236 infants and 16 newborns.
Getting children vaccinated will be vital to stopping the global pandemic, largely because kids now make up an increasingly large share of the cases. There were at least 243,000 cases of covid-19 in children from Sept 2. to Sept. 9 in the U.S., according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, representing roughly 29% of all cases in the country. Compared to the percentage of cases in children since the start of the pandemic last year, 15%, the virus is clearly making its way through unvaccinated children at an alarming speed.
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