COVAX will ship AstraZeneca vaccines to Latin America, some countries will also receive Pfizer doses

PAHO said that the Americas region needs to immunize about 500 million people to control the pandemic, adding that the World Health Organization would complete its review of AstraZeneca’s vaccine for the emergency use list in a few days.

“The number of doses and the delivery schedule are still subject to emergency use and production capacity,” PAHO said, adding that a supply agreement must be reached with producers.

Of the 36 nations that will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, PAHO said four countries – Bolivia, Colombia, El Salvador and Peru – will also receive a total of 377,910 doses of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech as of mid-February.

The GAVI alliance, the group that co-leads COVAX with the WHO, said last week that it intended to supply 2.3 billion vaccines worldwide by the end of 2021, including 1.8 billion free doses to lower-income countries.

The 36 Caribbean and Latin American nations that will receive the AstraZeneca vaccine range from regional giants Brazil and Mexico to small islands like Dominica and Montserrat.