America ends 2021 with the worst covid record but up in vaccination

America writing, Dec 31 (EFE) .- America ends 2021 again as the region most affected by the pandemic, with the largest rebound in covid-19 infections in the world and rising figures due to the end of the year holidays, but at the same time time with great advances in vaccination, especially in Cuba and South America.
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), America reaches 2022 with the worst records globally: of the 282 million infections and 5.4 million deaths from covid on the planet, around 36% of the infections (102 million) and about 44% of deaths (2.4 million) correspond to this continent.
“These percentages have been maintained throughout 2021, confirming America as the region with the greatest impact in the number of cases but, above all, in an important and worrying way, in the number of deaths,” Pedro Porrino, coordinator of Health in Emergencies for the Americas of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
USA AND BRAZIL REMAIN AMONG THE MOST IMPACTED
The United States has remained the most affected country in the world, with some 54.3 million cases and more than 824,000 deaths from covid, and the outlook is expected to worsen due to the rebound in cases in recent days due to the omicron variant .
Meanwhile, Latin America, which became a major focus of the pandemic, now accounts for 17% of global infections and 45% of continental infections, with 46.5 million cases.
The Latin American countries with the most infections are Brazil, third in the world, with some 22.3 million cases; Argentina (5.6 million); Colombia (5.1 million), and Mexico (3.96 million).
Regarding deaths, 66% of the entire continent (1.55 million) have been registered in Latin America.
Data from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) point to a high mortality rate in Latin America due to the coronavirus, with 245 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, while the world average is 71.
In fact, three Latin American countries remain among the top ten in the world in terms of deaths: Brazil (2nd place, with more than 619,000), Mexico (4th place, with some 299,000) and Peru (6th place, with 202,000 deaths). In addition, Colombia (more than 129,000 deaths) and Argentina (almost 117,000) rank 11th and 13th.
UNUSUAL REPORTING OF CASES
The continent also closes December with the largest rebound in covid-19 cases in the world, which has set off alarms due to the confirmation of a fourth pandemic wave due to the omicron variant, which is much more contagious, although it seems to generate fewer pictures severe disease.
“What can be expected with respect to omicron is that we begin to see now, every week, an exponential increase in cases and a clear upward trend in epidemic curves, but that it is not accompanied by a moment of higher mortality,” says Porrino.
For now, the WHO confirms that from December 20 to 26, 4.9 million cases were registered on the planet, the highest figure in almost seven months, while the deaths were 44,000, a number similar to that of previous weeks.
In this period, America was precisely the region that reported the highest increase in cases (39% equivalent to 1.4 million), compared to 7% in Africa and 3% in Europe.
According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the highest number of new cases has been reported in the United States, Canada and Argentina, which have registered records of daily infections in the last week.
In Central America, rallies have been reported in Belize and Panama, the latter country in which the authorities have already confirmed a fourth wave of covid-19.
Meanwhile, Bolivia, which posted a daily record on Thursday for the third consecutive day, with 7,980 new cases, leads the increase in infections in the Andean region.
FROM FOCUS ON PANDEMIC TO LEADERSHIP IN VACCINATION
To reduce the impact of the virus, international organizations insist on accelerating vaccination coverage.
In Latin America, this measure has been especially promoted in Cuba and the Southern Cone, a region that went from being the global focus of the pandemic to one of the most advanced areas in immunization.
As of December 29, more than 1,456 million doses had been administered in America, according to the most recent PAHO report, which highlights that 57% of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean is already fully vaccinated.
Although the majority of doses – 66% – correspond to three countries: USA (more than 498 million or 34% of the total of the continent), Brazil (320 million / 23%) and Mexico (148 million / 9, 8%), these are not the ones with the highest coverage of their population.
In this regard, Porrino highlights that countries such as Cuba or Chile already show data very similar to those of Europe.
Cuba (85.05%) and Chile (85.86%) are in the lead, already reporting more than 80% of their population inoculated with a complete scheme and are the second and fourth in the world in terms of immunization against covid.
They are joined by Uruguay (76.73%) and Argentina (71.18%), according to PAHO data.
Both the Red Cross and the WHO warn that for the new year vaccination challenges persist, especially in Caribbean nations, such as Saint Vincent and the Grenadines or Jamaica, which do not exceed 23% of the population with a complete scheme, or Haiti, where it is less than 1%.
“We are going to see how the cases evolve, which are already on the rise, although deaths remain stable and even with a downward trend, but we must insist on vaccination, that it really reached all people during what we already consider the greatest wave of contagion since the beginning of the pandemic, “said Porrino.

–