THE Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on Wednesday welcomed United States President Joe Biden's announcement on Monday that the US will export 80 million doses of covid19 vaccines within the next six weeks.

In expressing her gratitude for Biden's announcement, PAHO director Dr Carissa Etienne said the Americas have been "the epicentre of the pandemic for far too long."

She added the virus is causing the overburdening of communities and health systems in the region and the Americas continue to record high mortality rates from covid "even as other parts of the world are heavily unaffected."

While PAHO continues to work with Covax and vaccine manufacturers to get more supplies of vaccines and expedite delivery of available vaccines, Etienne said, "We know that that will not be enough."

She hoped the US, as one of the older states in the region "will help fill the access gap" to provide vaccines.

Etienne also identified Spain, Sweden, New Zealand and France as other countries that have also said they will donate excess vaccines through Covax.

"Of course, we would welcome some of those vaccines as well."

She added, "The harsh reality is that (in) most Latin American and Caribbean countries, covid19 vaccines reach less than four per cent of those countries' populations."

Etienne pointed out that this was "a far cry from the 70 per cent or more that we need to protect our people," adding, "Vaccines can make a difference between life and death."

Covid19 vaccines should not be a privilege of wealthy nations or people, Etienne declared, but a right for all. She said Biden understood this reality when he said the US will not be safe from the pandemic unless the rest of the world is too.

"That is especially true for this region, where economies and communites are closely intertwined and interconnected with the US."

With the help of Covax, Etienne said, "PAHO has delivered more than 12 million covid vaccine doses to the Americas, with another 770,000 doses on route to countries in Central America and the Caribbean."

Of the 400 million covid doses administered in the region, Etienne said the lion’s share had been in the US. With just three per cent of Latin Americans fully vaccinated against covid19, she said, "We still have a long way to go to ensure that everyone is protected.

She identifed export bans and lack of purchasing power among the challenges the region faces to acquire vaccines, personal protective equipment, oxygen supplies and other medical supplies vital to the covid19 response.

Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Cuba have well established vaccine manufacturing plants that have helped immunise generations, and Etienne said some of these plants are being updated to produce covid19 vaccines, "thanks to technology-transfer agreements with manufacturers like AstraZeneca."

She underscored the need to establish a regional manufacturing network for critical medical supplies "because covid will not be the last virus that tests our health systems."

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