Covax vaccines start arriving in America | …

Of second half of February and throughout the second quarter of 2021, some 36 countries in the Americas to start receiving Covid-19 vaccines through the Covax mechanism, a public-private alliance promoted by WHO to supply at least 20% of the population of member countries. In the case of Argentina, Covax will provide a total of 9 million doses, which will start arriving in the first half of the year.

According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the first delivery of Covax to America will be 35.3 million doses, from the second half of February to the end of June. The doses will be those produced by AstraZeneca-Oxford, a vaccine that the WHO is still reviewing for emergency approval. The approval would be in the next few days. The number of doses that will be delivered during this first semester represents less than 10% of the total vaccines needed on the continent to control the pandemic.

“With more than 45 million confirmed cases and more than one million deaths, the countries and territories of the Americas, in particular the poorest, are experiencing an unprecedented health, economic and social crisis”, warned the Director of the OPS, Carissa Etienne, confirming arrival. of the first doses for the continent most affected by the pandemic.

For this first delivery, an independent Covax committee, based on criteria of pandemic risk, impact and mortality rate, decided to strengthen the supply of doses in Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador and Peru, countries that will receive a total of 377,910 doses (Pfizer / BioNTech) over your allocated quota.

9 million doses for Argentina

Presidential adviser Cecilia Nicolini clarified that, within Covax, Argentina will receive 9 million doses in the first half of the year. “We hope they start arriving in March, but it depends on availability and whether they confirm the schedule,” said Nicolini.

The presidential adviser stressed that the country already has “a significant amount of acquired vaccines”, with more than 60 million doses, and stressed that it was “a priority country for Sputnik V.” “The situation is very complex, all countries in the world are trying to access the vaccine” against the coronavirus.

In this sense, Nicolini said Argentina is keeping further negotiations open to obtain the vaccine from Sinopharm, CanSino (Biologics Inc) and Moderna. “This is a pandemic that has a global impact. We need all countries to have access to the vaccine so that we can get out quickly and our economies to start to recover. There is no point in just a handful of countries or them. rich countries where the North are vaccinated and the others are not, ”he said.

America: 500 million people vaccinated to control the pandemic

“The launch of vaccine delivery via the Covax mechanism is an encouraging step in the fight against this virus, and PAHO is proud to facilitate an effort that is urgent for our region ”, celebrated the Director of PAHO.

However, This first delivery of 35 million doses does not cover 10% of the vaccines the continent needs to control the pandemic. According to PAHO, America will need to vaccinate about 500 million people to control the pandemic.

“The use of these vaccines will allow us to move forward in the fight against this pandemic, but we still need to maintain and strengthen public health measures – such as the use of masks, avoiding crowds, social distancing and frequent hand washing – to prevent transmission, increasing cases and deaths from Covid-19, ”said Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO deputy director.

PAHO’s Revolving Fund, in collaboration with the United Nations agency for children, UNICEF, is responsible for purchasing all vaccines on behalf of the Covax mechanism. The aim is to provide vaccines to at least 20% of the population of each country participating in Covax to protect those most at risk.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, 37 countries will receive vaccines through the Covax mechanism, of which 27 will do so with their own funding and ten will do so at no cost due to their economic situation or the size of their population.