Vaccination against Covid-19 reaches 41 percent in Latin America

Washington-. Full vaccination against Covid-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean has reached 41 percent of people, according to the Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne, today.

In her usual virtual contact with the press on Wednesday, the doctor announced that another 4.6 million doses through the Covax mechanism will reach our region this weekend so that more citizens can be protected.

However, as immunization coverage progresses, we will continue to see new infections across the Americas, he warned.

Etienne noted that the current Covid-19 vaccines are very safe, adding that they are very effective in preventing serious illness and death and can stop most infections.

He stressed that these drugs, like others, are designed to save lives and protect us from the most dangerous symptoms of SARS-CoV-2, and they clearly work. The agency said that over the past week, there were nearly 817,000 new cases of COVID-19 and more than 18,000 related deaths in America.

He explained that cases are declining in the north of the continent, although we are seeing an increase in hospitalizations in the eastern provinces of Canada and an increase in deaths in Mexico.

The director of the Pan American Health Organization also explained that infections and deaths from Covid-19 have decreased in most Central American countries.

He said that in South America, while most countries are seeing a steady decline in cases and deaths, Bolivia and Venezuela are reporting increases in infections.

He warned that the situation is more serious in the Caribbean, where the Dominican Republic and Barbados have reported jumps of more than 40 percent in new cases over the past week.

In fact, he said that half of the infections with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which caused the epidemic, that have accumulated in Barbados since it began were recorded last month.

He highlighted regional monitoring efforts, which he rated on eyes and ears to guide responses and help track emerging variables.

Going forward, he said, surveillance and early warning, two essential components of disease control, are essential to identifying new risks, as well as managing and responding to this next phase.

Etienne recommended that countries work to improve and develop epidemiological surveillance in the region, and work smarter and at the local level.