MSC archived stories - August 28, 202
The latest COVID update from CI in last month (July) shows Guatemala continues to experience disruptions with nearly 56% of the population receiving at least a first dose of the vaccine and 42.5% receiving a second shot. In contrast, Zambia has improved significantly and almost back to pre-Covid situation.
Talking about these extreme cases of data to-date show [ourworldindata.org] that during the entire pandemic period, Zambia is the least impacted of the CI countries by mortality rate compared to the most in Guatemala (outside USA – Graph 1). This trend correlates with the vaccination rollout from early 2021 (Graph 2), which shows Guatemala being the least vaccinated country with 50% partially and 39% fully – close enough to CI quoted figures above. Zambia, on the other hand automatically dropped off the comparison due to insignificant number of people being vaccinated there compared to other CI countries.
It seems to me the tourism in particular stands out as the main cause of spreading the virus with hardly any in Zambia. This means, future opening of travels to Zambia (say, CI visitation) can protect this country if the rest of the world is fully vaccinated.
Then what about Guatemala? Accelerate the pace of their vaccination program to control the impact. I think, this poster (image in media) can be very useful for children to learn about immunisation too.
barbmc
ReplyDeleteIf every person in the world was fully vaccinated and up to date ALL countries could likely be open for visits and tourism, assuming there isn't a new strain of covid that is resistant to the vaccine. But the world isn't nearly 100% vaccinated! It isn't the Guatemalan governments fault. Many Guatemalans (especially those in rural areas and Guatemala's indigenous population) are refusing to be vaccinated. Anti-vaxxers have convinced Guatemalans the vaccine is dangerous, unsafe, could kill them, and not to get vaccinated. Rural villagers are stopping doctors, nurses, and medical teams from vaccinating them, by attacking them, or blocking roads, or dumping vaccines, ect. They absolutely believe the misinformation. It's a huge problem for the government in Guatemala. It may sound crazy but anyone can easily see this information by just doing a google search. You can lead a horse to water (or bring water to a horse) but you can't make it drink?
August 29, 2022
God Barb, thats just awful!!
ReplyDeleteAugust 29, 2022
I think we can encourage our kids to get vaccinated through example and direct experience… the problem with anti-science stances is that its illogical, so appealing to logic just doesn't work very well. I’m all for charts and such, but do they change minds and hearts? This is a question I cannot answer. But the idea of sending actual scientific info isn't bad, as long as it’s respectful. I don't know, I wish the entire COVID thing wasn't such a sticky wicket. What a mess.
ReplyDeleteAugust 29, 2022
barbmc
ReplyDeleteKiyoshi: The only reason I know this is because rgfischoff had posted about it in her reply to a sponsors comment on MSC. The Guatemalan government had provided some of their covid vaccine to Honduras because it was close to expiring and they didn't want to throw it out. I did a google search and Rachel was right! I agree with you 100%. What a mess!
August 29, 2022
Thanking for highlighting. I can understand if people don't know what immunisation is and have no trust in the system (government) that administers vaccines (e.g. when Sri Lanka received vaccines from China, people wanted quality assurance from the government that it's safe to uptake just because manufactured in China, and for Guatemalans lack of information available in local languages or even travel cost to clinics unaffordable to the poorer in rural parts) – people will have no choice but refuse and best stay out of crowed areas. Education through media, schools, etc is the key to making informed decisions important as your health, and I believe Maya communities in Guatemala are well versed on this.
ReplyDeleteAugust 29, 2022
I think the vaccination rate would be higher in Maya communities that have access to the type of information and reassurance about the safety of the vaccine that organizations like CI can provide than in communities that are more remote and don't have any local sources of information/education they feel like they could trust. The people who have no trusted local sources backed by scientific data are more likely to rely on hearsay and urban myths. (I read an article where a Guatemalan lady they asked about the vaccine didn't want to get it because people told her it was the "mark of the beast".) It would be interesting to see the vaccination rates by department... Well, I found it: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/c3ddcfac88e24faeac56f5545b8f632d For example, Chimaltenango (where one of my sponsored children lives near the town of Tecpán) has a vaccination rate of 63.9% and Guatemala department (which includes the capital and also Villa Canales, where another sponsored child of mine lives) has a vaccination rate of 82% and Quetzaltenango, which has Guatemala's second largest city is at 59.4%. The most remote/rural parts of Guatemala have much lower vaccination rates: Alta Verapaz (31%), Quiche (36.4%), Huehuetenango (40.7%), Baja Verapaz (48.9%), Petén (39.1%) and San Marcos (41.7%). I'm surprised at how low the vaccination rate is in Sololá, though. The site I linked to also has a breakdown by age group, type of vaccine, and the percentage of people by age group who received the first dose (1ra Dosis), two doses (E Completo) and booster (Refuerzo).
ReplyDeleteAugust 30, 2022
This page also has a table that shows vaccination rates by department: http://labdedatosgt.com/vacunacovidguate/ - Scroll down to "Vacunación por departamentos".
ReplyDeleteAugust 30, 2022
guatemama
ReplyDeleteGreat to know that the vaccination rates are higher in Chimaltenango and Guatemala City! That’s where my two sponsored girls live!
August 30, 2022
Thank you for pulling the data. The 21 different Maya communities in Guatemala (making up more than 50% of the population) are leading the way. My concern is the population of Zambia hardly being vaccinated, coming out of the pandemic won't get any easier for them. I think, they require very cautious measures to avoid a catastrophe later.
ReplyDeleteAugust 30, 2022
barbmc
ReplyDeleteIn Zambia half of their population is under the age of 15 (a demographic that can be infected with and transmit covid while having few, very mild, or no symptoms themselves and are mostly able to recover on their own without reporting it. The problem is how can Guatemala convince their citizens to get vaccinated? Even first world countries can't convince huge segments of their own population to not believe anti-vaxxers and get vaccinated much less all the people in the world.
September 1, 2022