HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 15 (ACN) From today until next Wednesday, anti-COVID-19 booster doses will be applied in Cuba to health workers and groups of interest at risk, informed today Dr. Lena Lopez Ambron, national head of the vaccination program of the ministry of public health ( MINSAP by its Spanish acronym).
During the TV presentation on the national epidemiological situation which is broadcasted every Monday, Lopez Ambron detailed that the booster doses will start to be applied to the population in late November, in a staggered manner.
She explained that among the basic premises to apply the booster dose are to have completed the primary vaccination scheme with the three doses; and that six months have gone by since the last dose, with the exception of health workers, Biocubafarma and other selected groups and territories.
Any of the Cuban vaccines or vaccine candidates can be applied as booster doses, regardless of the vaccine used in the primary vaccination scheme, the specialist emphasized.
No person will be vaccinated who has exclusion criteria for the application of the vaccines, such as being under 18 years of age, suffering from an acute disease at the time of vaccination, patients with decompensated chronic diseases, or active oncology patients in the course of oncospecific treatment, she emphasized.
This dose will also not be administered to patients with hypersensitivity to any of the components of the vaccines, who will be administered another vaccine from the country’s current routine schedule; or those who present an acute infectious disease with the exception of COVID-19 such as tonsillitis, otitis, dengue and others, who will be administered 15 days after medical discharge, Lopez Ambron continued.
Adults confirmed positive by PCR who received a dose of Soberana Plus will not receive a booster dose until the study is concluded.
Cuban citizens who have arrived in the country and have a complete schedule of any of the vaccines applied in the world may also receive the booster dose, if six months have passed since the last dose was applied.
As for pregnant women, allergic women will be vaccinated with the Abdala and Soberana Plus formulation without thiomerosal, if they comply with the basic requirements.
Meanwhile, children will not receive a booster dose until the study of the duration of the immune response is completed, which will establish the time in which this new anti-COVID-19 dose will be applied, the national head of MINSAP’s vaccination program concluded.
