Latin America is urgently seeking a vaccine from the West, a senior official warns

Rich countries have three times the coronavirus vaccine that their people need and should provide the rest in Latin America, the region most affected by the epidemic and where the dead are “dangerous,” said one official.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Rebeca Grynspan, head of the Ibero-American General Secretariat that divides Spain, Portugal and Latin America, said other countries should follow Spain’s example. The country’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has promised to provide more vaccines in Latin America through the Covax leading hospital where half of the Spaniards received the vaccine. As of July 8, another 57.5% had received their first dose, according to Madrid.

“It’s important to follow Spain’s example because this could start vaccinating us in the second half of this year,” Grynspan said. If the Spanish model is not followed, “this suffering will intensify and continue to claim many lives”.

Existing G7 promises will be received late, he warned.

With eight people worldwide, Latin America has died almost one-third of all deaths from the plague, as well as the greatest economic decline in 120 years.

Vaccination rates are low due to limited access to resources – some countries have vaccinated less than 10 percent of the population. Officials are complaining that US and European governments have seized shares. Poor health equipment in the area, extreme poverty and people living in many towns are said to be riding Covid-19.

The US has announced plans to roll out the remaining 80m standards worldwide and has promised to provide a 500m BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine to 92 low-income countries by 2022. But this definition only includes a few Latin American countries and distribution will be considered by Washington. Grynspan said Covax should distribute each vaccine.

Although the epidemic has been affected, declining borrowing opportunities and economic instability are preventing Latin American countries from tackling poverty and unemployment.

The UN Economic Commission for Latin America earlier this year said government debt in the region would rise from 68.9% to 79.3% of GDP between 2019 and 2020, making Latin America and the Caribbean the most debt-ridden countries in the developing world.

The IMF is about agreeing $ 650bn to release new special rights, the largest part of its history, the result of this plague. But according to these laws, they can be distributed according to what they already have, which means that most of the money goes to rich countries.

There have been negotiations to repatriate the poorest countries as they already are but this does not include high-income countries, a group that has a significant impact on Latin America.

Latin America receives only $ 68bn of new magazine, Grynspan said: “It is not enough to get out of our current predicament [with Covid-19] even if the problem persists. ”

Grynspan, an economist who was previously the vice president of Costa Rica, said Ibero-America countries want to see a new IMF base to provide more wealth from rich people to middle-income countries.

“If the financial crisis [in Latin America] it gets deeper. . . we will see more demonstrations. . . on the streets, “he added.” Latin America needs to emerge from this crisis with a new development alliance in which social and economic services are well received and should be ubiquitous. “

Grynspan will step down as secretary general next month after seven years as the first secretary-general of the United National Conference on Trade and Development. The Secretariat has not yet named a successor.