PAHO: Vaxx trends uneven in Caribbean

THE PAN-AMERICAN region will receive some 200 million doses of covid19 vaccines this year, and director of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Dr Carissa Etienne is urging countries to collect and report data, which is presently scarce.

Speaking at PAHO’s press briefing on covid19 on Wednesday, Dr Etienne said the lack of data for vaccination coverage, in terms of age, sex and risk group, prevents countries from executing targeted vaccination campaigns.

“Our region has some of the highest covid19 vaccination coverage in the world,” Dr Etienne said.

“However, the Americas are the most unequal region in the world, and so, despite our progress, vaccinations remain uneven in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“We also have serious blind spots because we cannot see detailed vaccination data. We encourage countries to collect and report data showing vaccination coverage by age, sex and risk group where possible.

This data, Dr Etienne said, is crucial not only to design targeted campaigns, but also “maximising the impacts of vaccine doses, and, of course, saving lives.”

She said PAHO sees “worrisome gaps” in the countries that do report detailed data.

“For example, in the US and Anguilla, vaccination coverage among the elderly is lower than in younger groups who are less at risk of a severe covid disease,” she said.

“The good news is that vaccine supplies are expected to pick up this year. Donations from the US, Spain, Canada, Germany, France, and other countries, total some 26 million doses.

“PAHO’s revolving fund, which so far has delivered almost 100 million doses, is on track to obtain 200 million doses on behalf of our region this year.

Over the past week, the Pan-American region recorded over seven million new covid19 cases and more than 34,000 deaths related to the virus.

“However,” Dr Etienne said, “the rise of infections seemed to be slowing down in places hit earliest by the omicron variant.”

Most of the new cases, over four million, were recorded in North America.

Dr Eitenne said surges continue across Central and South America where Chile and Brazil posted record numbers of daily cases.

“In the Caribbean, deaths have more than doubled in Cuba, the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda. Other islands like Martinique and Guadeloupe are seeing covid spread rapidly among young and unvaccinated people.

“This trend shows that we must continue to sustain every path of our covid response. Vaccinations, testing, and continuing public health measures, like mask-wearing and social distancing remain crucial.

“Thanks to the hard-fought efforts of countries throughout the Americas and the generous support of donors, like the US, Canada, and Spain, that have helped our region secure doses when supply was limited, 63 per cent of people across Latin America and the Caribbean have been fully vaccinated against covid19.”