PAN American Health Organisation Director Carissa F. Etienne has provided reassurance about the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, despite circulation in the Americas of new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease.
“So far, PAHO has found that the impact of variants of concern on the effectiveness of vaccines for COVID-19 has been minimal,” Dr. Etienne told reporters.
Etienne stated that the COVID-19 variants increase the need to improve access to vaccines in Latin America and the Caribbean.
She added that PAHO has been tracking COVID-19 virus variants since June 2020, when it created the Genomic Surveillance Regional Network. The network has shared more than 52,000 viral sequences from Latin America and the Caribbean, and continues to monitor variants of concern in 43 countries and territories that have detected the Alpha variant.
