The inequality of the vaccine against COVID continues in the Americas, PAHO has warned | News

The Pan American Health Organization says less than half of people in America are completely vaccinated.

After two consecutive months of decline, COVID-19 infections are on the rise again in some U.S. countries, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has warned. irregular vaccination rates it remains a problem throughout the region.

In a weekly news release on Wednesday, PAHO director Carissa Etienne said Colombia, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados are increasing cases of coronavirus in some places.

Concerns are growing despite progress in vaccination rates, despite irregular access to ownership, persistent uncertainty about the vaccine, and a constant threat. Contagious Delta variant can cause new infections.

But Etienne said the “good news” is that the vaccine rate has continued to grow, with 48 percent of Americans being fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

While Chile, Uruguay, Canada and the United States have so far vaccinated the majority of their adult populations, they are the poorest nations in the region. far still.

Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Guatemala have so far vaccinated less than 1 in 5 people, Etienne said.

“In Nicaragua, coverage remains at a single figure and in Haiti, less than 1 percent of people have fully embraced it,” he told reporters. “That difference needs to be addressed.”

To address the problem of vaccine access, PAHO said it intends to work with state and Brazilian state institutions and private companies to build the capacity of these nations to develop and produce vaccines for the entire region.

The Americas the region has registered 700,000 new cases and 13,000 deaths related to coronavirus in the past week, Etienne also said.

Meanwhile, some regions of the US are also seeing an increase in infection rates, although the number of cases has declined in other areas.

The states of California, Colorado, Alaska, Montana and New Mexico are seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

We invite our Member States to join this initiative by using the Revolving Fund, a mechanism established and proven to provide fair access to our vaccine supply, guided by evidence-based recommendations. @DirOPSPAHO # COVID-19

– OPS / NORI (@pahowho) November 10, 2021

U.S. officials say the increase in COVID-19 infections may be linked to the virus circulating among children, who have returned to personal study this year in many places, and as vaccine protections disappear with the decline in resistance among adults.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading expert on infectious diseases in the U.S., said the Delta variant accounts for 99 percent of new cases, but public health officials continue to monitor the onset of any new variants.

The US is administering an average of 800,000 booster jabs all day in the country, and even last week he began to be vaccinated millions of children between five and 11 years old in pediatric offices and specialized mobile sites.

Vaccinating young teens and younger children “will help us a lot in preventing some of these rises that you are hearing,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said in a White House media appearance.

Jeff Zeints, the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator, said 900,000 children have already received the first blow.