During her weekly press briefing on Friday, July 2, Carissa F. Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO, offered reassurance about the effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccines despite the circulation in the Pan American region of new variants of the SARS-CoV virus. 2 virus that causes the disease.
“So far, PAHO has determined that the impact of the variants of concern on the effectiveness of vaccines for COVID-19 has been minimal,” Dr Etienne told reporters.
However, the variants increase the need to improve access to vaccines in Latin America and the Caribbean, she added. “Very few places are taking advantage of the full potential of vaccines because there is a huge access gap in our region. This is unacceptable, and the emergence of variants makes it even more urgent that we accelerate delivery to the places with the highest transmission.’
She added that PAHO has been monitoring Covid-19 virus variants since June 2020 with the establishment of the Genomic Surveillance Regional Network. The network has shared more than 52,000 viral sequences from Latin America and the Caribbean and continues to monitor variants of concern in 43 countries and territories that have detected the Alpha variant.
So far, 18 countries have reported cases of the Beta variant; 29 countries have reported cases of the Gamma variant, and 14 countries have reported cases of the Delta variant, including Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Canada, Chile, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mexico, Puerto Rico, USA, Barbados, Peru and St. Maarten, according to Dr Etienne.
As for the continued increase in Covid-19 cases in Latin American and Caribbean countries, Dr Etienne said countries in the Pan-American region reported 1.1 million new Covid-19 infections and 30,000 deaths last week alone, causing the total number of cases has reached more than 72 million and the number of deaths has reached almost 1/9 million.
Disruptions to essential health services are still widespread in the region, with 29 countries reporting disruptions to nearly half of all services. Despite this worrying picture, only one in ten people in Latin America and the Caribbean have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.”
“The effect of vaccination on public health is undeniable – and we see it in places of high vaccination coverage. As more people are vaccinated, the fewer people get seriously ill. Ultimately, this will have an effect on transmission, keeping us all safe.”
In the southern hemisphere, where flu season has begun, countries need to strengthen surveillance systems to monitor the spread of respiratory viruses, including Covid-19, and focus on tried and tested public health measures such as hand washing and wearing masks. She noted that more than 13 countries have started vaccination campaigns against the seasonal flu and more than 80 million people have already been protected. “However, we still have a lot to do to limit the transmission of Covid and other respiratory diseases,” said Dr Etienne.
