Jamaica, Haiti and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are amongst 4 nations as a consequence of obtain extra doses of COVID-19 vaccines via the World Well being Group’s COVID-19 Vaccines International Entry (COVAX) Facility.
The vaccines are anticipated to reach within the subsequent few weeks, as a part of greater than three million doses being dispatched by COVAX to the Pan American Well being Group (PAHO) this week for deployment to member nations which have, up to now, vaccinated lower than 20 p.c of their populations in opposition to COVID-19.
Guatemala is the fourth nation in Latin America and the Caribbean slated to get extra vaccines.
PAHO Assistant Director, Dr. Jarbas Barbosa da Silva Jr., throughout Wednesday’s COVID-19 media briefing, stated particulars of the most recent vaccine provisions have been conveyed to the beneficiary nations to allow their preparations to obtain and administer the doses, “and to be sure that [they] are capable of shield their most susceptible teams and save lives”.
He additional indicated that vaccine deliveries are anticipated to select up throughout the ultimate months of 2021, “so we will proceed to deal with one of many largest challenges affecting our area – vaccine inequity”.
“COVAX has agreed that for November and December, vaccine allotments will probably be despatched to the nations with the bottom protection. This can guarantee extra safety for these nations. We’re working, along with COVAX, to have these nations [prioritized],” the Assistant Director stated.
In line with PAHO information, almost 44 p.c of individuals in Latin America and the Caribbean have accomplished their COVID-19 immunization course.
“Thanks largely to vaccine donations, made bilaterally or via COVAX, twice as many individuals in Latin America and the Caribbean are totally vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19 [now] than in August of this yr,” Dr. Barbosa famous.
He identified that whereas greater than half of the individuals in member nations stay unprotected, “our area has accomplished an excellent job at accelerating immunization protection over just some months”.
CMC