RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – During the organization’s weekly press conference, the official described the disparity between those who can and cannot access vaccines as “unacceptable.”
“We must dispel the notion that vaccine inequity is a problem for some countries and not others, and instead work together to find solutions for all countries,” she said.
According to PAHO figures, over the past week the American continent recorded more than 1.3 million new Covid cases and some 19,000 deaths related to the pandemic.
Infections continue to increase 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 declines” in positive cases in Colombia, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay.
MORE VACCINES
The director announced that PAHO will begin to offer vaccines against Covid-19 through its revolving fund, created in 1977 by the agency to provide vaccines against different diseases and medical supplies at affordable prices to 41 countries and territories in the region.
The revolving fund would be an alternative to the Covax facility, promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Gavi alliance to ensure access to vaccines against the coronavirus to at least 20% of the world’s population.
Some 20 countries have expressed their interest in acquiring vaccines through this fund, Etienne said.
The PAHO director explained that the fund will benefit countries in the region that lack “the resources and negotiating power” to secure the doses.
PAHO’s deputy director Jarbas Barbosa said during the conference that the organization has vaccine offers for the last quarter of this year and for 2022, and pointed out that it expects to start shipping doses “as of next October,” although he noted that details of the negotiations with both countries and producers are still to be completed.