Anticovid vaccination in Latin America and the Caribbean is progressing steadily and is beginning to spread to undocumented migrants in Colombia and Costa Rica, reaching children aged 3 to 11 years in Argentina and fighting to increase the insufficient 37% of fully vaccinated in the region.
There are still countries with great lags: Jamaica, Nicaragua and Haiti have not even reached 10% of coverage, according to figures from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
These and other news are the keys to vaccination in the Americas this week.
VACCINATE EVERYONE TO OVERCOME THE PANDEMIC
For vaccination to be effective against the pandemic, it needs to reach the entire world. With that in mind, Colombia began this Friday to immunize migrants in an irregular situation in Bogotá with an identification document as the only requirement.
The Colombian Minister of Health, Fernando Ruiz, assured that the country has sufficient vaccines and that it is "a fundamental issue" to achieve vaccination goals and lower incidence rates of the pandemic.
In the same direction, Costa Rica is promoting from today until next Thursday a special vaccination day for migrants, regardless of their migratory status and demonstration of roots.
CHILDREN PROTECTED
Argentina also made progress in extending vaccination to more sectors of the population, with the injection of doses of the Chinese Sinopharm for children between 3 and 11 years old, ranking as one of the few countries in the world to immunize people of that age group .
Between Thursday and Friday, a total of 2,006,300 doses will be distributed throughout the 24 jurisdictions of the country, with the aim of beginning its pediatric application as of next Tuesday.
On the other hand, in the United States, the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNtech formally requested authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday for the emergency use of their anticovid vaccine in children aged 5 to 11 years.
So far the FDA only authorizes the use of this vaccine from the age of 12.
Pfizer and BioNTech announced ten days ago that the results of the latest clinical trials have generated a "robust" antibody response and that the vaccine is safe, bringing it closer to the end of October or early November.
ONLY 37% OF LATIN AMERICANS HAVE THE TWO DOSES
The arrival of vaccines to new sectors may increase the figure of 37% of fully vaccinated in Latin America and the Caribbean, insufficient according to PAHO.
"We continue to urge countries with excess doses to share them with countries in our region, where they can have a life-saving impact."said PAHO Director Carissa Etienne at the agency’s weekly conference.
Etienne pointed out that last week the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean received 875,000 doses of vaccines against the covid, which he considered "are not enough to protect everyone".
In the last week, almost 1.2 million cases and 24,000 deaths related to this disease have been reported in the Americas.
URUGUAY EXEMPTS VACCINATED FOREIGNERS FROM QUARANTINE
Uruguay will exempt foreigners who prove they have received the covid-19 vaccine from complying with the mandatory quarantine "within the last nine months prior to shipment", according to the decree of October 4 published on Thursday on the website of the Presidency.
Before, those who entered the country had to keep "mandatory preventive social isolation" for 7 days, after which they had to undergo a PCR or extend that period for one more week.
The text also indicates that minors from countries that do not have vaccines for that range must do a PCR test on the seventh day after entering the country or, failing that, keep isolation for 14 days.
NEW SUSPECTS AGAINST BOLSONARO
The Senate commission investigating the Brazilian government’s management of covid-19 extended its interrogations on Thursday due to new suspicions that President Jair Bolsonaro is still pressing for ineffective remedies.
The parliamentary commission, which began its investigation last April, had to conclude the interrogation phase yesterday, but at the last minute agreed to reconvene the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, due to renewed misgivings about the government’s actions in Brazil, which this Friday it became the second country in the world to exceed 600,000 deaths from the pandemic.
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