Cuba Starts Vaccinating Children in Order to Reopen Schools Amid COVID Surge

HAVANA, CUBA - Cuban authorities on Friday launched a national campaign to vaccinate children ages 2-18 against COVID-19, a prerequisite set by the communist government for schools to reopen amid a spike in infections.

Children 12 and older will be the first to receive one of the two domestically produced vaccines, Abdala and Soberana, followed by younger kids. Schools have mostly been closed in Cuba since March 2020, and students have been following lessons on television. With the school year starting Monday, they will continue learning remotely until all eligible children are vaccinated. Laura Lantigua, 17, got the first of three injections at Saul Delgado high school in the Cuban capital, Havana.