Washington D.C. January 26 (PAHO) – As the COVID-19 outbreak reaches its third year in the Americas, millions of children are missing out on routine vaccinations, putting countries at risk of losing two decades of immunization progress, the Pan American Health Organization Director Carissa F. Etienne warned.

“Countries are seeing outbreaks of diseases that for years had been under control,” she said during a media briefing today, including measles in Brazil and diphtheria in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

This week, countries reported the highest number of weekly cases since the pandemic began – more than 8 million. Deaths also increased by 37% from the previous week, reaching 18,000.