Cuba adds Sinopharm to its vaccination programme

Cuba is w applying Sipharm COVID-19 vaccine alongside its homegrown shots as it deals with its biggest wave of coronavirus infections.

Authorities in central Cienfuegos province anunced rollout of Chinese-developed jabs from Sunday, along with use of Cuba's own Soberana Plus booster.

Cienfuegos, with a population of less than half a million inhabitants, reported 496 virus cases on Sunday and has seen more than 20,000 cases over past 15 days.

Authorities did t explain how Cuba obtained Chinese vaccines, r did y specify wher y were purchased by island's government or if y were donated.

It remains unclear why Cuba is w applying Siphram shots to some of its population.

Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus vaccines were developed by Finaly Institute and are produced on island.

A third, Abdala, was created by Cuba's Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechlogy.

Cuba is only country in Latin America that manufactures its own vaccines.

Caribbean island h been highly successful in keeping virus at bay last year, but cases began shooting up after a brief period of relaxed controls at start of 2021.

Cienfuegos and or provinces, such as Pinar del Río, Artemisa, Ciego de Ávila and Havana, have been dealing with latest wave of infections.

Cuba is also going through a tough ecomic period, with common food and medicine shorts as well as power outs sparking large protests in July.

As of Monday, island has reported more than 645,000 coronavirus cases and 5,219 deaths linked to COVID-19.