“In Brazil there were almost 300,000 cases reported last week. In the US, more than 200,000 cases reported,” she said.
‘Just last week, America reported one million cases. They need more vaccines if they’re going to break this deadly cycle of cases, say experts.’
Van Kerkhove warned of a peak in the transmission level that has been observed in the region, arguing that “they are stuck at a really high level of intensity, and they can’t quite bring that transmission down”.
The world at large saw a global increase of 11.5 per cent in cases last week, the WHO officials said, with Europe and the Western Pacific being the most affected.
The Americas region saw a moderate increase of 0.5 per cent, but some countries were plagued by really sharp spikes in transmission possibly due to new variants, Van Kerkhove said.
The new Lambda variant first discovered in South America, however, does not seem to have brought an increase in cases, as it has started to be “outcompeted” by other variants, she added.
“South America, Central America and other places around the world need more vaccines if they’re going to break this deadly cycle of cases,” said Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program.
Source: IANS
