More than half of the population of America has been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus

More than half of the population of the American continent has received the complete schedule of vaccination against the coronavirus covid-19, reported this Wednesday the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne.

“Today we have reached an important milestone” said Etienne referring to this data and celebrating that 3.5 million more doses will arrive in the region this week.

Despite this news, the director of the OPS He highlighted the differences between countries in the rate of vaccination and recalled that in nations such as Guatemala, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, Nicaragua and Haiti “less than 20% of the people” have been completely immunized.

On the other hand, PAHO reported that America registered 760,000 new cases and 12,800 deaths in the last seven days, 5% and 17% less than the previous week, respectively.

However, PAHO Deputy Director Jarbas Barbosa said that several of the continent’s largest nations, such as the United States, Brazil and Colombia, recorded a slight rebound in the number of cases after weeks of downward trend.

Beyond these figures, Etienne and Barbosa called on the governments of the American continent to improve the control of the sale of antibiotics in their respective countries to prevent their abuse before the Christmas holidays from causing antimicrobial resistance among the population.

Etienne asked the leaders of the American nations to create programs to avoid the “excessive and inappropriate use” of antibiotics, since, according to his explanation, bacteria can develop resistance and render these drugs ineffective over time.

The leader of the OPS argued that between 90 and 100% of the patients hospitalized in the region for covid-19 received an antibiotic as part of the treatment, mostly without having been prescribed by any medical professional.

“In this pandemic we have seen the use of antimicrobials increase to unprecedented levels, with potentially serious consequences in the coming years,” said Etienne, who pointed to the sale of antibiotics over the internet as the main culprit for this rise.

Specifically, PAHO has detected in recent weeks a “sudden” increase in the number of hospitalized patients with antimicrobial resistance, especially in countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Paraguay.

That is why Etienne urged all countries in the region to ensure that their inhabitants “cannot buy over-the-counter antimicrobials without a prescription.”

___________________________________