PAHO warns of low vaccination rates in region

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said Thursday the impact of the covid19 pandemic on the operation of vaccination services throughout the Caribbean left the region susceptible to new disease outbreaks.

Jarbas Barbosa, director of PAHO, urged the countries of the Americas to urgently intensify routine vaccination efforts. He spoke at a virtual press conference.

Barbosa said the region is at risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases at their highest level in 30 years.

Insufficient and unsustainable funding and increased vaccination reluctance caused by misinformation have been some of the main drivers of the decline in coverage that has been exacerbated by the covid19 pandemic.

Currently, the Americas is the second in the world with the worst vaccination coverage.

About 2.7 million children did not receive all their vaccine doses in 2021, leaving them without full protection against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis.

More than 50% of children who have never received a vaccine in the region are in Brazil and Mexico.

Failure to implement and maintain high vaccination coverage leaves children "exposed to diseases such as polio, tetanus, measles and diphtheria," lamented Barbosa.

On the eve of Vaccination Week in the Americas 2023, which takes place from April 22 to 29, Barbosa called on countries to "recover the vaccination coverage rates that protected us in the past."

Vaccination Week in the Americas is "an extraordinary strategy to complement the efforts of national immunisation programmes," he said.

This year, the theme of the event is: Get up to date #EveryVaccineCounts and the goal is to reach more than 92 million people with life-saving vaccines.

“PAHO is investing in the production and distribution of vaccines against covid19 and other diseases that will be a challenge in the future,” he said.

Barbosa said diseases such as measles or polio can return to the region if vaccination measures are not implemented.

Margherita Ghiselli, Immunization Advisor, said children in the Caribbean region are at greater risk of an outbreak from tourism.

“We are working with the authorities of each country. Most unvaccinated children live in rural areas. We are using analysis of mathematical models and experiences from other countries to be able to identify the places where unvaccinated children live, target them and go to them to complete their immunisations,” she said.