Nicaragua Receives Over 1 Million Cuban COVID-19 Vaccines

On Oct 20, Nicaraguan authorities received over 1 million Cuban COVID-19 vaccines and expect to receive 7 million Abdala and Soberana 02 vaccines by the end of the year.

Related: 

Government of Nicaragua Rejects Interference by the OAS

Health Secretary Martha Reyes and the Cuban Ambassador in Nicaragua Juan Hernandez received the shipment at the Augusto Sandino Airport. They thanked both governments and reinstated the good ties between their countries.

Using Cuban vaccines, President Daniel Ortega's administration will serve the population of children over two years of age, which will allow the country to ensure that more than 70 percent of its population is immunized against COVID-19 in the coming months.

Starting Oct. 25, the Health Ministry will install 1,500 vaccination points throughout the country to serve the pediatric population. Since the vaccination of minors is not mandatory, parents or legal guardians must express their consent in writing before children or adolescents can be vaccinated.

Cuba was the first Latin American country to develop and produce its own COVID-19 vaccines. Among them are the Abdala vaccine, which has an efficiency rate of 92.3 percent, and the Soberana 02 vaccine, which has an efficiency rate of 91.2 percent.

To contain the pandemic, Nicaragua will produce the Russian COVIVAC vaccine at the Latinamerican Institute of Biotechnology Mechnikov.

Currently, this Nicaraguan-based research center is working in coordination with the Russian Chumakov Institute for the testing phase. The production of this vaccine could start in 2022.