Despite the fact that the Americas is leading global infection figures, with higher mortality rates, just over 23% of people completed their immunization schedule, regretted Dr. Carissa F. Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

She reported that over 1.5 million new cases and nearly 20,000 deaths were reported in last week.

Dr. Etienne explained that PAHO and Covax mechanism deliver nearly 12 million Covid-19 vaccine doses stemming from the United States, Spain, Norway, France and Sweden; however, these amount of vaccine doses is not enough to protect hundreds of millions of vulnerable people.

‘Some countries have no choice but to depend on donations to immunize their populations,’ Dr. Etienne added.

PAHO highlighted that several Latin American and Caribbean countries including Cuba are already involved in manufacturing their own anti-Covid-19 vaccines, a way to reduce dependence on imports.

pgh/Pll/oda / rbp