EFE.- Less than 20% of people in Latin America and the Caribbean have been fully immunized against Covid-19 and in some cases that percentage is less than 5%, he warned this Wednesday the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne.
During the agency’s weekly press conference, the official described as “unacceptable” the disparity between those who can and cannot access the vaccine.
“We must banish the idea that inequity in vaccines is a problem for some countries and not others, and instead work together to find solutions for all countries,” he claimed.
According to PAHO figures, the American continent registered during the last week more than 1.3 million new cases of Covid-19 and some 19,000 deaths related to the pandemic.
The infections, he observed, continue to rise in Canada, Mexico and the United States, as well as in countries such as Honduras, Belize and El Salvador, where the increase was estimated at 30%.
Etienne highlighted the “general decrease” in infections in the Andean region and Brazil, with “substantial falls” of positives in Colombia, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.
More vaccines
The director announced that lPAHO will begin to offer doses against Covid-19 through its revolving fund, created in 1977 by that agency to supply affordable vaccines against various diseases and medical supplies to 41 countries and territories in the region.
The revolving fund would be an alternative to the Covax distribution mechanism, promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Gavi alliance to facilitate access to doses against the coronavirus to at least 20% of the world’s population.
Already 20 countries have expressed interest in acquiring coronavirus vaccines through this fund, Etienne revealed.
The PAHO director explained that the fund will benefit the countries of the region that lack “the resources and negotiating power” to ensure the doses.
The deputy director of PAHO, Jarbas Barbosa, said during the conference that they already have vaccine offers for the last quarter of this year and for 2022, and pointed out that the expectation is to start sending the doses “from next October.” although he pointed out that details of the negotiations with both the countries and the producers remain to be finalized.