PAHO: Evidence growing that Brazilian coronavirus variant increases contagion

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The director general of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne, said ongoing studies are providing growing evidence that some of the novel coronavirus strains, such as the one first detected in Manaus, northern Brazil, have a higher transmission capacity than the virus’ original strain.

According to PAHO’s Incident Manager Sylvain Aldighieri, three worrying strains have been detected in at least 20 countries in the Americas. After reporting that approximately 1.6 million Covid-19 cases were registered in the region last week, roughly half of the global cases in the period, Etienne said that American countries are still being badly affected by the pandemic.

PAHO’s general director called for safety measures as the “best way” to fight the virus in the short-term, before vaccines begin to take effect.

AstraZeneca’s vaccine has been the target of mistrust after a Phase 1 and 2 trial in South Africa found the product to be less effective for mild and moderate cases of the South African Sars-Cov-2 strain. According to PAHO’s deputy director Jarbas Barbosa, there is no reason to believe AstraZeneca’s vaccine is less effective in preventing severe cases, which are the focus of immunizers at this point, he said.

He also cautioned that trials found the vaccine to be less effective in a small group of people who contracted the South African strain, so the results can not be extended to the Brazilian and British coronavirus strains, for instance.

AstraZeneca’s immunizer is the most widely distributed product by the Covax initiative to American countries, according to a World Health Organization report published a week ago. Barbosa said that PAHO member countries receiving doses from the Covax should forward their national immunization plan to the organization, in order to guarantee the proper distribution of vaccines.

Source: Noticias ao Minuto