As of late November, Cuba has fully vaccinated 78% of its people, “putting it ninth in the world, above wealthy countries like Denmark, China, and Australia (the United States, with a little below 60 percent of its population vaccinated, is ranked fifty-sixth).” The country is currently developing five vaccines (including a nasal spray and a booster specifically designed for people who have previously had other vaccines), two of which, Abdala, and Soberana 2, were key to the nation’s high vaccination rate. The decision to develop a traditional protein vaccine, rather than an mRNA vaccine, was advantageous in both storage and transportation (not requiring the freezing temperatures of the two main vaccines used in the United States), as well as the youth vaccination rate (since mRNA vaccines have never been used on children before).

Read the full piece in Jacobin here.