NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

The Cuban Ministerio de Salud Pública reported 9221 new COVID-19 cases Saturday, including 86 deaths.

Pinar del Río province saw the most cases with 1531 cases, followed by Holguín (1172), Sancti Spíritus (905) and Las Tunas (748).

This brings the cumulative total since the start of the pandemic to 689,674 cases and 5,703 deaths. In just the past month, Cuba saw 231,661 and 2,262 cases and deaths, respectively.

On Friday, Cuban officials announced the first National Children’s Campaign against COVID-19 worldwide.

To achieve this goal, Cuba has the Sovereign 02 vaccine, whose owner is the Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV). After having gone through a rigorous regulatory path and verifying that it meets the requirements in terms of quality, safety and immunogenicity for this population group, the Center for State Control of Medicines, Equipment and Medical Devices (CECMED) decided, this Friday, 3 September, approve the Authorization for Emergency Use (AUE) for this Cuban vaccine.

This decision makes it possible to expand its use in that population group, specifically in the ages between 2 and 18 years.

In the first wave of the disease, infections in the pediatric population in Cuba were around 200 cases, and in the second wave, this figure rose to 600 children and adolescents. Since March 21, 2020, the date the first pediatric patient in the country was diagnosed, to date, more than 115,000 minors have been affected by COVID-19.