Cuba is currently leading the world in the area of kid vaccination as the country has vaccinated almost all young children against Covid
The island is the only country vaccinating toddlers as young as two against the disease, and more than 95% of two- to 18-year-olds have now been fully vaccinated.
According to Dr. Gerardo Guillén of the country’s ministry of public health- “Although Covid hits children less severely, they are an important factor in transmission.”
He said that child vaccination, has contributed to significantly lower infection rates in Cuba than in the US and Europe throughout the Omicron wave.
According to Ania Ramirez 33 while picking up her fully vaccinated child Fabio aged 5- “Children are vaccinated as soon as they are born. If he’s already got all the other vaccines, why wouldn’t I put this in him?”
Around the world, Covid vaccination ages are getting lower: the World Health Organization has recommended that if high levels of coverage have already been achieved in the adult population, countries should consider inoculating children as young as five with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
But some countries are bucking the trend: the Swedish health agency last week decided against recommending Covid vaccines to children younger than 11, arguing there were no “clear benefits”.
A report by Reuters indicated that experts say that there are benefits to vaccinating young children, but concerns remain.
Dr. Jon K Andrus, former regional immunisation programme director at the Pan American Health Organisation and professor of public health at George Washington University, said that while Cuban scientists “make good quality vaccines”, he was wary of seeing children vaccinated before he had more information.
“None of the results have been published in peer-reviewed journals, so it’s hard to discuss,” he said.