The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on Wednesday announced a new initiative for member states to acquire Covid-19 vaccines at competitive prices.
‘The Revolving Fund is now receiving requests for countries in the region for Covid-19 vaccines for the last three months of 2021 and for the calendar year. 2022,’ said Carissa F. Etienne, PAHO Director. ‘PAHO´s Revolving Fund for vaccines provides the chance of taking advantage of more affordable prices and guaranteeing the availability of high-quality vaccines to reach everyone around the world,’ she stressed.
Dr. Etienne said in a virtual conference that the Revolving Fund must circulate tens of millions of vaccine doses to be added to those already offered by WHO´s COVAX mechanism.
She confirmed that equitable access to vaccines continues to be PAHO´s top priority; but less than 20% of people in Latin America and the Caribbean have been fully vaccinated, and in some countries less than 5%.
‘There is no recovery path for any country as long as its neighbors remain vulnerable and new variants spread and multiply,’ Etienne stressed.