{"id":4190,"date":"2020-09-24T02:21:30","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T07:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heartandvascularmed.com\/?p=4190"},"modified":"2020-09-24T02:21:30","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T07:21:30","slug":"paho-urges-countries-to-plan-early-for-covid-19-vaccinations-to-reduce-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/?p=4190","title":{"rendered":"PAHO urges countries to plan early for COVID-19 vaccinations to reduce deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

PAHO Director warned that it may take time before people are vaccinated and said countries should continue public health measures such as social distancing, handwashing and wearing masks in public<\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Washington D.C., September 23, 2020 (PAHO) \u2013\u00a0<\/b>Countries\u00a0should not wait for a COVID-19 vaccine to be developed before they start planning and preparing for its arrival, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director, Carissa F Etienne, said today. In the meantime, they must also continue other recommended public health measures to contain the virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrontline health workers, first responders and those caring for the elderly should be vaccinated first, followed by vulnerable groups such as adults with pre-existing conditions, especially those over 65 years of age,\u201d Etienne said. \u201cThe challenge lies in identifying these groups early and determining how to best reach them.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a news briefing today PAHO Director warned<\/a>\u00a0that even as a vaccine is rolled out \u201cThis virus will continue to spread, and people will continue to get sick. So, we cannot pin all our hope on vaccines alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll still need diagnostics to identify those who are sick and better treatments to care for those that fall ill. We\u2019ll continue to rely on traditional public health measures like tests, contact tracing and quarantines to minimize the spread of this virus. And we\u2019ll continue to count on people exercising social distancing, washing their hands often and wearing masks in public to protect others from getting sick,\u201d the PAHO Director said.<\/p>\n

When vaccines become available, the COVAX Facility, convened by GAVI, the\u00a0Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)\u00a0and WHO, \u201cwill afford countries in our region the best opportunity to fast-track access to COVID-19 vaccines\u00a0and\u00a0reduce the impact of the pandemic on people\u2019s lives and our economies. The COVAX facility offers access to a basket of 15 possible vaccines,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Etienne said nearly 200 COVID-19 vaccine candidates are being studied. \u201cAnd we hope that one or more of these will prove to be effective, but there is no guarantee. Early vaccines may only provide partial protection or may not work for everyone. We don\u2019t yet know which vaccine will be found safe and effective and how it will work. But we do know that if we don\u2019t prepare now, we will miss the opportunity to benefit from it quickly. The truth is countries can\u2019t wait to have all of the answers before they start planning and preparing to deliver a COVID vaccine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The COVAX facility, including the Advanced Market Commitment financing instrument, has signed up 64 self-financing countries and 92 countries eligible for support through that instrument, she said. Through COVAX, participating countries will be guaranteed initial doses to cover at least 3% of their population in the first phases of deployment, as supplies catch up with global demand, eventually reaching 20% of their population \u2013 enough to protect those at higher risk for severe COVID-19, Etienne explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur region has a strong legacy of immunization programs that give us a leg up as we plan for the future,\u201d added Etienne.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PAHO is well prepared to offer technical cooperation to countries so they can prepare and implement their vaccination campaigns \u2013 \u201cfrom planning and forecasting to communications, from regulations to the training of health personnel. Another benefit to our member states is that they can rely on our Revolving Fund, the biggest regional mechanism for self-financing countries, for the purchase and delivery of vaccines,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I urge countries around the world to prepare for a coronavirus vaccine, but also to remain realistic, knowing that these preparations do not replace everything else we must do to save lives today,\u201d Etienne concluded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Media Contacts<\/b><\/h3>\n

Leticia Linn
<\/br>
\nSebastian Oliel
<\/br>
\nAshley Baldwin
<\/br>mediateam@paho.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PAHO Director warned that it may take time before people are vaccinated and said countries should continue public health measures such as social distancing, handwashing and wearing masks in public\u00a0 Washington D.C., September 23, 2020 (PAHO) \u2013\u00a0Countries\u00a0should not wait for a COVID-19 vaccine to be developed before they start planning and preparing for its arrival,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4191,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4190","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medicalnewstoday_com"},"menu_order":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}