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1 1 (May 21, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govedkj0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Updated May 21, 2021 Latin America and the Caribbean: Impact of COVID-19 The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is having widespread economic, social, and political effects on Latin America and the Caribbean. As of May 20, 2021, the region had over 31 million confirmed cases (19% of cases worldwide) and almost 1 million deaths (29% of deaths worldwide). Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, and Peru had the highest numbers of deaths in the region, and Brazil and Mexico had the second- and fourth-highest deaths globally. Looking at mortality (death) rates per 100,000 population, Brazil had the highest recorded COVID-19 mortality rate in the region, followed by Peru, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina(see Table 1). In its weekly briefing on May 19, 2021, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reportedthat infections had begun to drop throughout the region in the past month after a surge in cases, particularly in SouthAmerica. Nevertheless, PAHO reported that many Caribbean islands, such as the Bahamas, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago, were seeing increasedCOVID deaths. In Central America, Costa Rica, Panama, and parts of Honduras were reporting sharp rises in infections. In South America, despite overall reductions in most countries, PAHO noted rising infections in Bolivia, a doubling ofcases and deaths in some hotspots in Argentina and Uruguay, and a pause in decreasing trends in Brazil. PAHOhas played a majorrole in supporting countries in their pandemic responses. When the pandemic began to surge in the region in 2020, the PAHO director expressed concern about the poor and other vulnerable groups at greatest risk, including those living in the Amazon Basin, particularly indigenous communities; women, who make up 70% of the health workforce in the Americas; people of African descent; migrants in temporary settlements; and prisoners in crowded jails. The rollout of vaccines in the region has been slow, with some exceptions, and there is concern that widespread vaccine access in some countries could be delayed until 2022 or early 2023. As of May 21, according to the New York Times vaccine tracker, Chile was the leader in the region, with 40% of its population fully vaccinated, followed by Uruguay, with 28%. Many countries, however, have vaccinated smallerpercentages oftheirpopulations. For example, as of May 21, Barbados had fully vaccinated 16% of its population, Costa Rica 11%, St. Lucia 9.5%, Mexico 8.9%, Brazil 8.5%, the Dominican Republic 7.7%, Panama and El Salvador 7.2%, Colombia 6%, Grenada 5.2%, Argentina4.8%, Peru 2.6%, and othercountries with smaller percentages. PAHO has helped countries prepare for vaccine rollout and facilitated access to vaccines through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility, a mechanism developed by global health organizations to facilitate equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines; 22 countries in the region have signed agreements to access vaccines through the facility. In addition, 10 countries in the region-Bolivia, Dominica, El Salvador, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines-are eligible to benefit fromthe COVID-19 Vaccines Advance Market Commitment (COVAX AMC), launched by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to provide donor- funded vaccines for low- and middle-income economies. Table 1. COVID-1 9 Cases, Deaths, and Mortality Rates in Latin American/Caribbean (LAC) Countries (countries with more than 2,000 deaths, as of May 20, 2021) Country Cases Deaths Deaths per (millions) 100,000 Brazil 15.894 444,094 210.42 Mexico 2.390 221,080 173.29 Colombia 3.177 83,233 165.34 Argentina 3.447 72,699 161.77 Peru 1.904 67,034 206.19 Chile 1.308 28,169 148.63 Ecuador .415 20,022 115.24 Bolivia .340 13,693 118.93 Paraguay .324 8,012 113.73 Guatemala .245 7,952 47.89 Panama .373 6,314 148.69 Honduras .230 6,093 62.52 Costa Rica .297 3,736 74.02 Uruguay .254 3,691 106.62 Dom. Rep. .281 3,600 33.52 Venezuela .220 2,465 8.64 El Salvador .071 2,202 34.12 Total LAC 31.452 997,946 - United States 33.057 588,539 179.3 Source: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Coronavirus Resource Center, MortalityAnalyses, May 21,2021, updated daily, at https://coronavirus.jh u.edu/data/mortality. PAHOmaintains thatbythe endof2021, vaccines provided through COVAX should cover around 100million people in the region, roughly 20% ofeach country's population. As