“Most Latin American countries will not achieve immunity until 2023”

“Most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean will not achieve immunity until 2023”Admits Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) during one of the dialogue sessions of the European Union-Latin America and the Caribbean Foundation (EU-LAC) in which Clarín participated .

“Initiatives for fair financing and distribution of vaccines against Covid-19 in middle-income countries of Latin America and the Caribbean ”was the slogan of this appeal of the Foundation created in 2010 by the VI Summit of Heads of State and Government and in which 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean the 27 members of the European Union, the United Kingdom and the European Union itself.

“It must be recognized that Latin America and the Caribbean will not achieve collective immunity in 2021”, says Bárcena of the long-awaited percentage – between 60 and 70 percent – of the vaccinated population necessary to develop immunity that stops the coronavirus.

“We found asymmetries in access to vaccines and there are three speeds of vaccination: at the current rate, only four countries in the region can obtain immunity in 2021. 7 others will do so in 2022. Most, in 2023, ”he explains.

Bárcena, who has held the post of Executive Secretary of ECLAC since 2008, underlines that “the pandemic has revealed very deep structural weaknesses. Health must be a human right and universal access to health must be guaranteed by the state. It can’t be contributory health, like pensions are, he says. Health must have universal access. Public health spending should be 6% and in the region we will only reach 2.3% ”.

According to ECLAC, until March 16, Latin America with 7.6% of doses administered worldwide, 88 percent of which is concentrated in four Latin American countries.

For Bárcena, “There is an international hoarding for access to vaccines It affects countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and also generates inequalities within the region. We have a situation in which a group of developed countries concentrates 45.5% of the purchasing commitments while it only has 12.9% of the world population. “

Organization

“Our region must organize itself because Europe is organized. The United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom have the privilege of vaccinating first their populations and then the world. China and Russia they have privileged exports rather than vaccinating its inhabitants. 76 percent of the doses that reached Latin America and the Caribbean came from China and Russia. This is the reality, ”says Bárcena.

The reference of this United Nations regional commission for economic development distinguishes between access to vaccines and the process of administration to the population: “Israel applied 109.8 doses per 100 inhabitants; United States, 33.5 per 100 -number-. In the region, Chile provided 38.8 doses per 100 people; Brazil, 5.6 and Mexico, 3.5 doses of vaccine per 100 inhabitants ”.

“It is necessary to negotiate with the countries which will have an excess of vaccines. Canada and Australia have six times more commitments than they need -enumere Bárcena-. On the other hand, we also ask for flexibility in intellectual property regimes. The temporary suspension of intellectual property rights is very important and we need the participation of Europe. Transnational corporations oppose it. We are all trapped there, but Europe can help. “

The executive secretary of ECLAC denounces that the secrecy around contracts and prices only hurts the poorest countries: “AstraZeneca costs around two dollars in Europe but Uganda pays four times as much and South Africa pays twice as much. Moderna costs $ 15 in the US but they’re going to sell it to the world for $ 30 ”.

Bárcena is committed to achieving in Latin America a regional vaccination system “where the pharmaceutical industry, biochemistry, logistics and transport really coordinate and we can create research and development centers, active ingredients for vaccines, production plants, creation of clinical trial service networks and effective communication, ”he said.

“We have some initiatives, among others, to strengthen regional coordination mechanisms to acquire vaccines. Mexico and Argentina are committed to producing vaccines not only for themselves but for the region. And that’s very important, ”he emphasizes.

-What tax reforms does ECLAC recommend to middle-income countries to overcome the economic crisis caused by the pandemic?

– First of all, it must be recognized that countries have invested around 4.7% of their GDP in transfers and fiscal measures, which has caused them a budget deficit. Therefore, one of the measures we have proposed is to fight tax evasion, which accounts for 6.3% of GDP in Latin America and the Caribbean. We must review the privileges legally granted to companies, which represent 3.7% of GDP, and seek a more progressive tax structure that goes towards direct taxes. It’s difficult now, but we should review the taxes of large digital companies and that they pay their taxes where they realize their productivity gains.

Madrid. Corresponding

PB