14ymedio, Natalia López Moya, Havana, 28 June 2021 — The faces were long, serious, full of concern, at the Juan Manuel Márquez Pediatric Hospital, where the trial of the Soberana 02 vaccine — baptized by the authorities as Pediatric Soverana — began on Monday in children ages 3 to 11 years old.
The Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV), developer of this antidote, assured the official press that they selected the volunteers after verifying “the safety of the initial injection of the candidate vaccine in 25 adolescents between 12 and 18 years old,” and that a total of 350 children and young people from 3 to 18 years old will be part of the project. They will be administered two doses of Soberana 02 and one of Soberana Plus, with an interval of 28 days.
The first requirement to be eligible, 14ymedio learned in the hospital, is “to be healthy.” After weighing and measuring them, the minors have to be “within the acceptance parameters for the study,” from which it follows that they do not accept children with any sign of malnutrition.
This was confirmed by this newspaper in the waiting room of the medical center where the test is taking place, next to the emergency room: both the children, all white-skinned, and their parents, looked well fed, well dressed and well shod. Among the parents, a soldier from the Ministry of the Interior was notorious.
The study does not accept minors who are not accompanied by both parents. “There can be no parents abroad or traveling or anything,” said a hospital employee. In order for children to participate, they have to sign up at the Juan Manuel Márquez or at the polyclinic in their health area.
As for personal consent, it is only for the “oldest,” from 12 to 16 years old; the little ones depend on the willingness of the parents. In the center they make a list, and if any of the children does not meet the required parameters, they continue in the order of those listed.
The so-called volunteers showed no gesture of happiness.
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