Latam Reaches 72 Million COVID-19 Infections -PAHO

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported on Thursday that the region surpassed 72 million COVID-19 deaths and almost 1.9 million deaths.

"So far, PAHO has found that the impact of variants of concern on the effectiveness of vaccines for Covid-19 has been minimal," PAHO's Director Carissa Etienne said. Last week alone over 1.1 million new infections were registered across Latin America and the Caribbean.

The official also warned on the risks of traveling, as several countries consider reopening during the summer. "Very few places are benefiting from the full potential of vaccines as there is a huge access gap in our region," the official recalled, noticing that is it is "unacceptable, and the emergence of variants makes it even more urgent that we accelerate supply to the places with the highest transmission."

According to PAHO at least 14 countries in the region including Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Canada, Chile, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mexico, Puerto Rico, USA, Barbados, and Peru have reported the Delta variant, up to 60 times more transmissible than the original Sars-Cov-2.