Cuba advances in vaccination amidst spike in COVID cases

HAVANA, Cuba, May 25 (ACN) This Monday, the Government Working Group for the control of the COVID-19 epidemic analyzed the situation of ten provinces that are unable to control the disease. They also reported on the Sanitary Intervention with Cuban vaccine candidates, which is going well, according to what was designed.

The average number of cases per day in Cuba at the end of last week was 1 156, 10.6% higher than that recorded in the island at the end of April. The 1 155 new cases reported on Monday confirm the possibility that May will break a sad record with more than 34 700 positive cases: in April the final number was 31 346.

Deaths caused by COVID-19 have also been on the rise, with 223 deaths so far in May, compared to 229 in April. In the last six weeks, an average of ten deaths per day has been maintained: on Monday, 13 deaths were reported.

In the midst of these very high figures - reported by the Minister of Public Health, José Angel Portal Mirada, at the meeting of the Government Working Group for the control of COVID-19 - Cuba is making steady progress in the Health Intervention initiated on May 10 with Cuban vaccine candidates in at-risk groups and territories.

By the end of May 22, 774,212 people had been vaccinated throughout the country: 405,908 of them as part of health workers, BioCubaFarma and other risk groups; and 368,304 of the population of the municipalities of Regla, Guanabacoa, Habana del Este and San Miguel del Padrón, in the capital, and the Isle of Youth.

The process, said Portal Miranda, continues as expected. The provinces of Havana, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo, which started later than the others, are advancing as expected. On the other hand, territories such as Pinar del Río, Artemisa, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Las Tunas and Isle of Youth have already completed the first dose in their risk groups.