translated from Spanish: America advances in the third anti-covid dose and borders on pre-pandemic normality

Control of the pandemic seems to be closer in America. Most countries already exceed 30% of those vaccinated with the two doses and progress is being made in inoculating the third. The figures in countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile encourage optimism, although at least “normal life” will still take “a year” to arrive, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla predicted on Sunday, who did not specify whether it will be reached at the same speed in all countries. Despite the widespread truce, the figures remain dramatic: in the last 7 days, the region added 1.1 million new cases, for a total of 89.3 million infected and 2.2 million deaths, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO). Although only Uruguay, Chile and Canada exceed 70% of the fully immunized population, more countries in the region are planning to supply a third dose, despite the FACT THAT THE WHO called for a moratorium on booster vaccines until December, given the inequality of dose distribution on the planet. Even so, Costa Rica announced a new purchase of vaccines for that third batch; in El Salvador, more than 5,000 people have already applied the third dose, according to official data updated today, and in Panama it will also be received by immunocompromised patients from This Wednesday. In the United States, where about 70 million people are not vaccinated, President Joe Biden took the third injection of Pfizer this day, three days after health authorities authorized the booster for vulnerable groups. In an auditorium of the White House and with journalists and cameras present, Biden rolled up his sleeves so that a nurse would administer a dose of reinforcement, as the country’s authorities have recommended for those over 65 and other vulnerable groups. CHILE SUSPENDS CURFEWOn the road to normality, the Chilean government reported on Monday that it was not renewing the state of catastrophe as of October 1, and therefore, eliminated the curfew in force since March 2020.A measure announced shortly after the authorities reopened the borders to vaccinated foreigners from October 1, after several weeks with a significant decrease in cases and a national positivity rate that to date stands at 1%. Without the current state of emergency, there will be no more regional or communal quarantines throughout the country, although measures such as the isolation of positive cases, close contacts, suspects and travelers will be maintained, as well as limitations on capacity depending on the epidemiological situation. Peru’s Ministry of Health on Saturday confirmed the first three cases of the delta plus variant, which contains a new mutation in the spike protein that the virus uses to enter human cells. These first cases found in Lima were reported by Health Minister Hernando Cevallos, speaking to reporters during a visit to one of the active vaccination centers in the Peruvian capital.” Not only has the delta variant been increased, but the delta plus variant has appeared, which generates an immunological leak, which is a decrease in the effectiveness of the vaccine. This does not mean that the vaccines applied do not serve for the delta plus variant, “explained Cevallos.The discovery comes when the country reached 10 million people fully vaccinated, which is equivalent to almost 30% of its population, and exceeded 25 million doses applied, according to data published by the Ministry of Health on Sunday. Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro tested negative for COVID-19 on Sunday, after remaining in quarantine since he returned last Wednesday from the United Nations, because four members of the entourage that accompanied him were diagnosed with the virus, official sources reported. On the recommendation of brazilian health authorities, Bolsonaro was isolated since last Wednesday, when he returned to the country from the UN General Assembly, for having had contact with his Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, who tested positive for covid and had to remain in quarantine in New York.Bolsonaro, who has already contracted the disease and so far has not been immunized against the pathogen, is one of the most denialist world leaders regarding the seriousness of the pandemic, which already leaves more than 594,443 dead and 21.4 million infected in Brazil.EXPORT VACCINES FROM LATIN AMERICAThe plant that the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac will install in Santiago de Chile “will export to all of Latin AmericaIca” vaccines against covid-19, said today the Minister of Health of the Andean country, Enrique Paris.Paris explained that the Chinese laboratory will install in the capital of his country a plant to fill -not manufacture- vials and a research institute in Antofagasta (north), which will contribute to fight against the pandemic in the region.

Original source in Spanish