How Cuba became a pioneer in covid-19 vaccines for kids
By Mary Beth Sheridan
June 18, 2022 at 5:00 a.m. EDT
Diana Hernandez, 24, left, gets a follow-up vaccination at a clinic in Playa, the northernmost municipality in Havana, alongside her daughter, Manuelita Sarracino, 15 months, and husband, Juan P. Sarracino, 25, look on. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)
HAVANA — Long before he was declared a U.S. national security threat, Vicente Vérez was a Cuban chemist who loved kids. His specialty was vaccines. In the 1990s, he helped create an inexpensive vaccine targeting the bacteria known as haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib, which had been killing children under 5. It was a global hit. So when covid-19 came along, Vérez knew what he had to do.
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Today, as the United States finally rolls out coronavirus vaccines for small children, Vérez is celebrating an unlikely achievement: Most of Cuba’s youngsters got their shots months ago. His Soberana 02, used in children as young as 2, is one of a pair of homemade vaccines credited with taming covid-19 on the communist island.
The Cuban vaccines have not yet been approved by the World Health Organization, although they’ve gotten the green light from regulators in Mexico, Iran and Vietnam. Scientists say their development might become a case study of how poorer countries can invent their own shots.
“They were not privy to the gazillion dollars some of these companies received,” said Maria Elena Bottazzi, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, referring to multinationals like Pfizer and Moderna. “Sometimes, with very little, you can get very far.”
A girl roller-skates alongside her friend in Havana. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)
More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/06/18/cuba-coronavirus-vaccine-abdala-soberana/
