PAHO revealed what percentage of the Latin American population is already fully vaccinated against COVID-19

39% of the inhabitants of Latin America and the Caribbean have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus covid-19Although six countries have much lower immunization rates, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported Wednesday.

At a press conference, PAHO Director Carissa Etienne announced that, with an average of 39%, the region is close to reaching the goal set this month by the UN and the World Health Organization (WHO) to immunize 40% of the world’s population before the end of the year.

In addition, according to Etienne, 26 countries of the American continent have already achieved the goal set by the UN and WHO by exceeding 40% of the population with a complete vaccination schedule.

However, it is not the reality in all countries, warned Etienne, who emphasized the inequalities in the distribution of doses and the logistical challenges that some nations face to distribute them.

There are six countries in the Americas that are of particular concern to OPS because their vaccination rate is well below 40%: Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Haiti, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

Each state faces different challenges, although skepticism about the effectiveness of vaccines is one of the biggest “problems” in the Caribbean, Etienne warned.

Faced with this situation, PAHO urged the governments of the region to do everything possible to improve the distribution of doses with logistical changes and education programs for health personnel in order to inform them of the benefits of vaccines against covid -19.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 91 million people have been infected in the Americas, while more than 2.2 million have lost their lives, according to PAHO data.

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