Evidence confirms positive impact of pediatric vaccination in Cuba

Havana, April 13 (RHC)-- In the usual meeting held by Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel with scientists involved in the fight against Covid-19, it was said that Cuba prevented between 50,000 and 70,000 children from falling ill with Covid-19 during the last few months.

The specialists confirmed that pediatric vaccination had an impact so that since week 38 of 2021, no pediatric deaths from the disease have been reported.

So far this year, more than 28,000 positive children and the serious or critical ones do not reach 1%, said Lissette Lopez, head of the National Pediatric Group of the Ministry of Public Health.

Vicente Vérez, director of the Finlay Vaccine Institute, said that as a result of a study that allowed evaluating the impact of duration and quality of the immunization response, the vaccine worked even in the face of a wave of the omicron variant of the Sars-Cov-2 coronavirus.

He added that during the clinical trial, a group of children was given a booster dose of the Soberana Plus vaccine, which points to the feasibility of advancing this strategy in Cuba's vaccinable pediatric population.

At the meeting, the Director of Science and Technological Innovation of the Cuban Ministry of Public Health, Ileana Morales, announced two new clinical trials in infants, an intervention in children between one and two years of age and a booster dose for people over 60 years of age and immuno-compromised.

It was also informed that children between 12 and 18 will receive a booster dose six months after completing their vaccination schedule.

Raul Guinovart, dean of the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Havana, updated the forecasts of theoretical models, which predict a favorable scenario in the coming weeks with a decrease in active cases and new infections.