With only 37% of the population vaccinated against Covid-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean, PAHO confirmed that the drugs will be available this year and in 2022 to reach everyone.
Carissa Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), reported in a virtual conference on the progress of the pandemic in the region and the closing of agreements with the manufacturers of Sinovac (China) and Oxford/AstraZeneca (United Kingdom) to guarantee the necessary vaccines.
Etienne said that over the past month there had been a decline in the number of people infected with the virus, and said that at the end of last week almost 1.2 million new infections and 24,000 deaths were reported”.
She warned that, despite the decline in infections in South American countries, Chile presents a complex situation due to outbreaks of Covid-19 in urban centres such as the Metropolitan Region of Santiago and the port cities of Coquimbo and Antofagasta.
In the case of the Caribbean, the trend is downward, although Cuba and Barbados are reporting more cases with a 75% increase in the last week, the regional PAHO revealed.
It warned that in North America (Canada, the United States and Mexico) the figures continue to rise, but data provided by each country tells a different story. “If we look deeper, we see that local trends continue to be worrying,” Etienne said.
Whether it is bringing vaccines to our region or tracking the spread of variants, controlling this pandemic depends on the work and support of partners in our region and, indeed, the world,” he added. (PL)
(Traducido por Rene Phelvin – Email: renephelvin@gmail.com) – Fotos: Pixabay