Date: 26 April 2021
Time: 10:00 EDT
Watch the event on PAHO's YouTube channel
From 24 to 30 April 2021, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), together with the countries and territories of the Region and its partners, will celebrate the 19th annual Vaccination Week in the Americas (VWA) and the 10th World Immunization Week (WIW) under the theme "Vaccines bring us closer. #GetVax." This message has an important collective and societal value in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the global call to maintain vaccination as a global public good.
One of the main VWA objectives is to maintain immunization on the political agenda in every country and at the regional level. The launch of VWA has been marked by the participation of high-level country and institutional authorities including presidents, first ladies, ministers, and heads of development agencies, among others. This gives vaccination high visibility in the context of primary health care and health coverage.
For 2021, a regional virtual event will take place with the participation of PAHO’s Director, Dr. Carissa F. Etienne. Presidents and other authorities will be invited to participate. We hope that one president per sub-region will attend. In 2021, in the context of pandemic response and COVID-19 vaccination, a call to maintain immunization as a public good and to promote an equitable access to all vaccines will be the main focus.