Since last November, Brazil has been experiencing a health crisis with a high number of hospitalizations, including many of young people. So far, the country has reported more than 14 million cases and the death toll exceeds 400,000. Infections and deaths have decreased in recent weeks, but neither Brazil nor any country can lower its guard, it is a lesson that the world has to learn, said the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus opened the WHO biweekly briefing with these words and then gave the floor to the Brazilian Minister of Health, who explained that the South American giant is accelerating its vaccination campaign with a nationwide deployment designed to achieve a better distribution of immunizations.
Marcelo Queiroga affirmed that the Brazilian government has implemented measures on two fronts: fight the pandemic and keep workers in their jobs so that they maintain a source of income.
The minister considered it unfair to say that there were delays in the administration of vaccines and explained that by next Monday they will have applied more than 16 million immunizations.
“We are working together with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to be able to access COVAX vaccines as soon as possible. We are also going to acquire more doses through bilateral agreements such as the one that we will soon sign with Pfizer for one hundred million doses. When we talk about vaccines, we talk about hope. We have enough vaccines on the horizon and we hope we have vaccinated the whole population by the end of the year ”, emphasized Queiroga.
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A health worker in the laboratory
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Technology transfer
The head of the Ministry of Health defended the breaking of patents in the pharmaceutical industry so that developing countries can produce generic vaccines and underscored Brazil’s adherence to the initiative led by the World Trade Organization to increase the production of immunizations through technology transfer.
In this context, he explained that Brazilian scientists work in association with the University of Oxford, in addition to modernizing the facilities of their laboratories in order to be able to produce and increase vaccines for its population and that of the countries of the region.
Queiroga indicated that among the priority population to receive the vaccine due to their level of vulnerability are the towns natives He added that for this reason 75% of the population over 18 years of age in those communities has already been vaccinated.
On the other hand, the minister pointed out that the pandemic has highlighted the global need to strengthen public health systems and reinforce the primary care both for emergencies and for the treatment and fight against chronic diseases, which have been the underlying cause of many of the deaths from COVID-19.
Agência Brasil / Marcelo Camargo
A young man from Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Latin America and the Caribbean, in danger
Speaking of the situation in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, the PAHO Director of Emergencies stated that the outlook is “very worrying”.
“Countries fight various battles, they don’t have enough vaccinations and they operate in the context of a huge economic crisis that has increased poverty ”, emphasized Dr. Ciro Ugarte.
The expert stressed that while cases and deaths are declining, it is more important than ever to support health workers and maintain a comprehensive and coordinated approach to reduce transmission and prevent a resurgence and further loss of life.
“That means public health measures that include surveillance, testing, contact tracing, supportive quarantine and compassionate care. And it also means individual measures that include physical distancing, masks, hand hygiene and ventilation, ”he pointed out.
OPS/Karen González
Vaccination in Colombia began on February 18, 2021.
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Most urgent: more vaccines
But the most urgent thing, he assured, is to have more vaccines against COVID-19, either through the COVAX mechanism or through donations, in the case of countries that they don’t have the resources to buy them directly to manufacturers.
“So far, COVAX has distributed 7.3 million vaccines in the region, but many more are needed. Many countries cannot make bilateral agreements and depend on COVAX, but the forecast of having more supplies soon is not optimistic, ”insisted Ugarte.
He recalled that the United States provided 3.5 billion dollars in emergency funds against COVID-19 for poor or developing countries; however – he regretted – Latin America and the Caribbean not enough have arrived of those resources.
The Director of Emergencies added that countries like Colombia, Guyana, Uruguay, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru they face a drastic increase in cases and that their health systems are overwhelmed.
To help alleviate this emergency, PAHO and its partners support the nations that they can’t cope with oxygen demand, intubation medications, and other medical supplies.
Ugarte specified that much of the increase in COVID-19 infections is occurring among young people, who are arriving with serious cases at hospitals and placing in critical situation to health systems.
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