WASHINGTON, DC, Wed. Feb. 24, 2021– In the most recent Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) media briefing, PAHO representatives, Dr. Carissa Etienne, Director of PAHO, and Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, Assistant Director of PAHO, addressed the difficulty some countries, particularly small nations, are facing in their efforts to secure adequate doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. This is the case even for some countries that have established bilateral agreements with manufacturers. Currently, there is a limited supply of vaccines worldwide, and just a small number of manufacturers.
Dr. Etienne noted that the Americas have been uniquely affected by COVID-19. “So far, COVID-19 in the Americas has brought the largest burden of cases and deaths, and we have been hit the hardest. COVID-19 remains relentless. As we have said, on Monday alone the region of the Americas has reported 50 percent of new global cases and 65 percent of new global deaths. This fatality rate is too high. There are too many hospitalizations overwhelming health systems across our region. The high death toll is causing suffering in every nation of the Americas, and without a doubt it will have lasting repercussions for our families, our societies and our economies. That is why we need to address it now. The best way to cut preventable deaths by COVID-19 is by quickly deploying vaccines to those who are most at risk, but we need more vaccine doses as soon as possible and as much as possible,” Dr. Etienne said.
PAHO expressed their added concern about the limited supply available to middle and low-income countries in the Americas. Many countries have started vaccinations, while other countries are yet to deliver a single dose. Approximately only 13 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean have been vaccinated. Even the countries that have started the vaccination of their population, have received a slow and unreliable supply, which is insufficient to ensure herd immunity.
PAHO believes that the first step in enabling equity in vaccine supply lies in the COVAX facility. COVAX is a World Health Organization initiative, tasked with guaranteeing equitable access to vaccines for all countries. “[The COVAX facility] needs to be increased and sustained quickly, if we are going to successfully confront the the death toll and the misery that this is causing to the people and our children,” stated Dr. Etienne.
“In order to receive vaccines, the countries need to implement various measures, such as the regulatory aspects for the vaccine to be able to be imported into the country and be administered. Also, [countries must] prepare all of the importation mechanisms to improve their work with the producers, so each of the countries in the Americas are receiving support to be able to receive the vaccine when the producers are ready to send them.” said Dr. Barbosa.
Dr. Barbosa continued to emphasize how critical the availability of vaccines will be to the return to normalcy in many societies and to the reduction of the effects of the pandemic. “Vaccination has two important roles, as our director has mentioned. First of all, individual protection: medical staff that has been vaccinated will continue to be able to work at the hospitals and also in the case of the elderly and individuals that have chronic conditions that are vaccinated will be protected against the severe forms of COVID-19 and they will be protected against deaths, but also the vaccine has a collective role as a coverage vaccine. Coverage is expanded and, unfortunately, with the low availability of vaccines in the world, this is going to take a couple of months.This collective role will be the role of protecting individuals, all of the individuals and the population, and make sure that the epidemic can be controlled. So I think that this is more than an obligation. I would say that this is a right, a right that individuals should be aware that they need to have this right to protect themselves to protect their families and the communities.” Dr. Barbosa said.
PAHO Director, Dr. Carissa Etienne, explained that it will be months before we will be able to see the impact of vaccinations on the rate of COVID-19 infections. Currently, supplies remain limited, but Director Etienne said, “We must focus on saving lives by prioritizing those most vulnerable, like our health workers, the elderly and people living with pre-existing conditions. As supply catches up with demand, we’ll be able to protect more and more people, and rely on vaccines to ultimately control the pandemic in our region.”