According to statements to Prensa Latina by Dagmar Garcia, Director of Research for the Finlay Vaccine Institute, the decision to proceed with a new inoculation is based on the evidence provided by the Soberana pediatrics clinical trial.
In Garcia’s words, the study proved that six to seven months after receiving the complete vaccination scheme (two doses of Soberana 02 and one of Soberana Plus) the age group experiences a slight decrease in antibody levels.
However, it was revealed that, after that same period of time, children from three to 11 years of age maintain the same levels of antibodies they had at the time of finishing the vaccination, thus making it not recommended applying the booster to the age group.
Garcia recalled how Cuba managed to be the only country in the world that began the school year on November 15th last year with all its children over two years of age vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2.
The pediatric immunization was carried out in the country during the months of September to November 2021, reached 96 percent of the age group between the ages of two and 18, that is, about 1.8 million people.
According to Garcia, the campaign demonstrated the safety of the Cuban product as more than five million doses were applied without reports of serious adverse effects described by the World Health Organization as of special interest as in the case of other vaccines, such as myocarditis or pericarditis.
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