Etienne calls for regional immunization to become a global priority
“None of us will be safe until all are safe”
WASHINGTON, DC — While 28 countries in the Americas have welcomed the arrivals of about three million doses of COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX Facility since March 1, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director Carissa F Etienne said supplies still fall far short of the coverage needed to protect vulnerable groups.
Forty-nine countries and territories in the Americas have introduced COVID-19 vaccines and administered more than 210 million doses, according to PAHO figures. The 210 million includes COVAX supplies and vaccines procured through bilateral deals that countries made individually with pharmaceutical companies.
The COVAX target for the Americas is to provide enough vaccines to cover around 100 million people by the end of 2021, with all countries receiving enough vaccines to immunize some 20 percent of their populations.
In a recent press briefing, Etienne noted that “because of the global limitations on manufacturing vaccines, it has been difficult for our region to gain access to the vaccines we need to immunize our populations”.
“Vaccine production for approved COVID-19 vaccines needs to increase worldwide, because none of us will be safe until all are safe,” she said.
“Current progress is far from reaching the coverage necessary to protect the most vulnerable groups, about 20 percent of the population, to reduce the high mortality in our region.”
PAHO’s director has called for immunization in the Americas, which has the highest burden of cases and deaths, to become a global priority.
Countries began receiving COVAX deliveries on March 1, with the goal of ensuring fair and equitable access for the 36 participating countries in the Americas. These include 26 self-financing countries and 10 countries supported through the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment mechanism.
Worldwide, 674 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, including about 36 million doses that COVAX shipped to 86 participating countries.
The Bahamas has received 53,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine so far, including 33,600 through the COVAX Facility and an earlier donation of 20,000 from the government of India.
More than 10,000 people have been vaccinated in The Bahamas to date, according to the Ministry of Health, which also noted that the government is aiming to inoculate 80 percent of the population to achieve herd immunity.
Etienne said: “Attaining vaccine equity and distributing as many vaccines as possible to as many people as possible is our current goal.”
She noted that vaccines “are not yet the main method of slowing transmission of COVID-19; we must maintain and adjust our public health and social measures in every country”.
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