Alicia Bárcena, executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), assured that Latin America is ready to have its own Covax mechanism with the help of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
“The region would be ready to create its own Covax mechanism, even a hemispheric Covax with the help of PAHO, because one of the countries with the highest surplus of vaccines is the United States and it is in its duty to donate vaccines to the Central American and Caribbean countries. . The same happens with Mexico, we are its direct neighbors ”.
During your participation in the International Symposium: Health Regulation in a post-COVID-19 world, Bárcena warned that the region faces serious restrictions from other countries to import medical supplies and warned about the need to carry out a thorough review of Covax, since its mechanism is not clear.
“We face serious restrictions from countries to be able to import these inputs. First of all, these restrictions should be removed. The countries must review the Covax mechanism, it is a great idea but it has not reached all of them, it is not clear how many it will reach ”.
Likewise, he highlighted Mexico’s work during the pandemic for its donation of vaccines against COVID-19.
“Mexico has done a spectacular job because it has donated 800 thousand vaccines even though it may not have all the vaccines it needs, (it has donated) to Belize, Guatemala, Paraguay, Honduras and El Salvador.”
In addition, he pointed out the importance of promoting a plan to accelerate vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 similar to the ‘war room’ announced by the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other institutions.
“The declaration must add to the call of the IMF, the WHO, and the WTO to establish a ‘war room’ that proposes that developed countries should get vaccinated 40% of the population in 2021 and 60% in 2022 , but at the rate we are going in Latin America we see this as very difficult ”.
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