The Americas has passed the “grim milestone” of two million deaths linked to COVID-19, the head of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said Wednesday.
PAHO Director Carissa F. Etienne made the announcement during a weekly pandemic briefing.
Etienne said some 15,000 Indigenous people were included in the figure, but added more “robust” data was needed to identify the true impact on Indigenous communities.
“It is likely that many more have been infected and many more have died but we may not know it because they have struggled to get the COVID care that they deserve,” she said.
The organization has said only 18 percent of people in Latin America and the Caribbean have so far received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
PAHO Assistant Director Jarbas Barbosa urged countries with a surplus of doses to share their stocks to support the global vaccination drive rather than begin administering “booster” shots.
“The best way to use this surplus is donating now these doses to allow countries to progress in their vaccination, to protect the population, and to save lives,” Barbosa said.
