Salvador A year ago, the images from the Brazilian Amazon metropolis of Manaus shocked the world. In February 2021, far more than 100 people died there every day from Covid-19. The intensive care units in the metropolis of 2.2 million inhabitants were overcrowded. There was a lack of oxygen. Many corona patients were transferred to hospitals throughout Brazil – and thus spread the then new Delta variant even faster.
Health experts worldwide estimate that two-thirds of the population in the Amazon have already had contact with the Sars-CoV-2 pathogen. They hoped for herd immunity – in vain. But today, a year later, things have gone quiet in Manaus. The infections have been increasing again since the beginning of the year – as in all of Brazil. But the number of deaths has hardly increased so far.
The likely reason: “This is due to the high vaccination rate, which has significantly reduced the number of severe cases,” estimates pandemic expert Victor Loyola. In Manaus, 81 percent of the population has already been vaccinated twice. That is significantly more than the global average and also more than in countries like Germany, where only around 74 percent of the population has been vaccinated twice.
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Today, the 436 million people who live between Panama and Patagonia are among the most vaccinated in the world. In just one year, the corona hell South America has become the continent with the most vaccinated people.
By early February, 79 percent of people in South America had received at least one dose, according to the Oxford University website Our World in Data. This puts the continent well ahead of Asia (71 percent vaccinated once) and Europe (67 percent).
With 68 percent of the population, South America also leads in those who have been vaccinated twice against Corona, ahead of Europe (63 percent) or North America (60 percent). On global average, 53 percent of people are vaccinated twice and 61 percent once.
Several reasons for the trend reversal
This turnaround is amazing. The German Institute for Global and Area Studies from Hamburg estimates that Latin America accounts for around a third of all Covid 19 deaths worldwide, although only just under a tenth of the world population lives there.
Peru holds the sad record of 6,000 deaths per million inhabitants. That’s one of the highest mortality rates in the world. After the USA, Brazil is the world’s number two with the most registered corona deaths. There are now 627,000 dead.
Most South American governments only began vaccinating their populations on a large scale after the first quarter of 2021. The highest vaccination rate worldwide is all the more astonishing. There are several reasons for this. True, they are different in every country. Paraguay and Bolivia – the poorest countries in South America – are lagging behind with their vaccination campaigns. However, some similarities can be found for the successful mass vaccinations in almost all countries in the region.
Two deadly corona waves rolled over the Brazilian Amazon metropolis Manaus.
(Photo: dpa)
Some countries like Uruguay and Chile reacted particularly quickly and flexibly to the pandemic. Vaccination started there at the end of the first pandemic year 2020. In both countries, the governments were already negotiating with the vaccine manufacturers about the purchase of vaccines from mid-2020. Johnson & Johnson, Astra-Zeneca, Pfizer-Biontech and Sinovac are still in use in Chile and Uruguay.
Chile wants to start the fourth vaccination soon
Above all, the vaccine from China allowed the governments to vaccinate the risk groups so quickly. Since then, Chile has consistently been in the top group for vaccination rates – and now, after Israel, will soon be the second country in the world to administer the fourth vaccination dose. Almost 92 percent of the people there are currently vaccinated. In Uruguay it is 84 percent.
In countries like Argentina and Brazil, vaccination campaigns started with a delay. In Argentina, the local production of the Astra Zeneca vaccine agreed with Mexico failed. The Argentines had to wait a long time for the Russian vaccine Sputnik V.
In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro opposed vaccination as a bitter opponent. He rejected offers from international vaccine manufacturers for months. Over a dozen emails from Pfizer went unanswered in 2020. His health ministers sabotaged any attempt at a vaccination campaign.
The governor of São Paulo finally insisted on entering into a cooperation with the Chinese manufacturer Sinovac to produce vaccines in Brazil. That’s why the campaign got under way slowly in April last year.
In South America there are hardly any opponents of vaccination
There are hardly any opponents of vaccination in South America – and if there are, then they are poorly organized, as in Argentina or Colombia. The dramatic course of the pandemic in the first year, with some of the toughest and longest lockdowns in the world such as in Argentina, Chile and Peru, has made people open to vaccination. After all, many people are precariously employed and cannot isolate themselves in the home office.
This also increased the pressure on politicians to quickly set up comprehensive vaccination campaigns.
South America now has the highest vaccination rates.
(Photo: dpa)
However, the tradition of vaccination campaigns in public health care throughout South America is likely to be decisive for the rapid vaccination of the population. Many adults can still remember outbreaks of yellow fever, polio or even smallpox – and the nationwide vaccination campaigns.
In the case of yellow fever outbreaks in South America, for example, it is common for overnight entry to be requested for proof of vaccination and for immediate vaccination at the borders.
Brazil vaccinates up to two million people a day
In Brazil, babies are given nine vaccinations during their first year of life. There are 28 vaccinations in the vaccination card. It’s not much different in Argentina, Chile and Colombia. The payment of state aid – such as the social assistance Bolsa Familia in Brazil – is usually linked to compulsory vaccination of children.
The state network of public health stations is well developed. In Brazil, for example, two million people can be vaccinated a day at times.
Again and again the governors or mayors call for 24-hour vaccination campaigns. The Brazilians can use an app to determine which vaccination stations have the shortest queues or whether a vaccine is currently available.
Nevertheless, the states in South America now fear the omicron wave and a renewed overload of the hospitals. Despite the high vaccination rate, there are still 43 million unvaccinated people in Brazil.
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