Cuba plans to administer the booster dose to its entire population this January

The Government of Cuba expects to finish administering the booster dose of the covid-19 vaccine to its entire population by the end of January.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel indicated this Wednesday on Twitter that the Ministry of Public Health (Minsap) “ensures that by the end of January all” the Cuban population “must have their new dose.”

So far, added Díaz-Canel, “just over two million Cubans have their booster dose against covid-19.”

The Cuban president added that “the production and transfer of vaccines to the provinces is being expedited by The danger posed by the omicron variant, which is more easily transmitted.”

According to the Minsap, 91% of the Cuban population has already received the complete vaccination schedule, of three doses, of one of the three formulas against covid-19 of national production: Abada, Soberana 02, and Soberana Plus.

According to figures from the Ministry of Health, the percentage of Cubans with at least one dose is higher than 98% out of a population of 11.2 million people.

Coronavirus cases have increased markedly in the last two weeks in Cuba, after thirteen consecutive weeks of containing the pandemic and a significant reduction in cases and deaths.

The Minsap reported 673 new cases of covid-19 on Tuesday. It was the ninth consecutive day with daily infections and the highest number of positives since October 31.

Cuba is not part of the Covax mechanism of the World Health Organization created to access vaccines against covid-19, nor did it buy them on the international market.