If COVID-19 trends continue, controlling virus in the Americas will take years: PAHO

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on June 9 warned that if COVID-19 continues to spread at the current pace, it will be years before the virus is controlled in the Americas. Carissa Etienne, PAHO director said that controlling the pandemic in the Americas will take years if slow vaccination continues at a slow pace. During a weekly media briefing, Carissa Etienne said that "today we are seeing two world, one quickly returning to normal, and another where recovery remains distant. 

"The inequities in vaccination coverage are undeniable. Unfortunately, vaccine supply is concentrated in a few nations while most of the world waits for doses to trickle out. Although COVID-19 vaccines are new, this story isn’t—inequality has too often dictated who has the right to health," Dr Etienne said.

Dr Etienne highlighted the COVID-19 situation in the Americas, including North America. She said there were almost 1.2 million new COVID-19 cases last week and over 34,000 deaths. She added that four of the five countries with the highest death counts in the world were in the Americas. Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago reported the largest increase in COVID-19 infections and deaths during the past month. She said that despite improving the health facilities across the region, oxygen is running low and ICU beds are full.

Despite the doubling—or even tripling—of hospital beds across the region, ICU beds are full, oxygen is running low, and health workers are overwhelmed.

While stressing on the vaccine distribution, Etienne said that the US has fully vaccinated more than 40 per cent of its population while the pace is slower in Latin America and the Caribbean. She added that some countries that include Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia have only vaccinated 3 per cent of their population. She warned that if the current trends continue, the health, social and economic disparities will grow more and it will take years to control the virus in the Americas. Dr Etienne called for "urgently" ramping up access to vaccines in Latin America and the Caribbean and prioritizing countries where "even vulnerable populations have yet to be protected." She urged the countries having excess vaccine doses to follow the United States, Spain and Canada in donating vaccine doses and money for the fight against COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

“We hope other countries – particularly those with excess doses – and global financial institutions will follow in their footsteps to provide the support we need to protect the 70 per cent of our population that will not be covered under COVAX."

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