There is no magic bullet to protect us against COVID-19. That’s why we must embrace new tools ⚒️ and use them wisely.
Vaccine 💉 inequity continues to divide our region and if we don’t address glaring gaps, we’ll fail to bring this virus 🦠 under control.
Some countries in our region like Chile, Cuba, Uruguay, and Canada have some of the highest vaccine coverage in the world.
And yet, millions of people in our region 🌎 have yet to receive a single dose.
Although rollout of 💉 has not been as rapid as we would have liked, or as evenly distributed, today 56% of people in Latin America and the Caribbean have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, thanks to the efforts of countries and the support 🤝 of donors
As we welcomed 2021, COVID vaccines 💉 had not yet arrived on our shores.
Today, more than 1.3 billion COVID vaccine doses have been administered in the Americas 🌎
But while this has been a sobering year, we have learned what it takes to bring this virus 🦠 under control and thanks to COVID-19 vaccines 💉, we have protected tens of millions of people from the worst of this virus.
We saw triple the number of COVID infections 🦠 and deaths in this second year of the pandemic than we did in 2020.
Hospitals 🏥 were stretched thin, vital medicines and supplies ran low, and our health systems were put to the test like never before.
More than a third of all COVID cases and 1️⃣ in 4️⃣ COVID deaths reported worldwide have occurred here in the Americas 🌎
And when we compare 2020 to 2021, this year was undoubtedly worse.
Since the start of the pandemic, more than 98 million people in the Americas 🌎 have developed COVID and more than 2.3 million people in our region have lost their lives to this virus 🦠
Today is our last press briefing of the year, so I’d like to take a moment to reflect on this second year of the pandemic 🦠 – a year that marked us, challenged us, and gave us reason for hope.
