USA Health launches global pandemic outreach campaign for COVID vaccine efforts in Peru
USA Health plans to establish processes and protocols for safe and efficient vaccine distribution in the region with a goal of providing 5,000 doses to the people of Peru.
By Casandra Andrews
candrews@health.southalabama.edu
The success USA Health has demonstrated in delivering COVID-19 vaccines to large numbers of people has drawn international attention. A non-governmental agency in Peru has asked USA Health experts to establish processes and operations in the Cusco region of Peru for other academic partners to follow in the future.
“When we received the call from our medical partner, CerviCusco, we knew we had to help,” said Natalie Fox, D.N.P., assistant administrator and chief nursing officer for USA Health Physicians Group. “Our plan is to travel to Peru in mid-August, establish processes and protocols for safe and efficient vaccine distribution in the region with a goal of providing 5,000 doses to the people of Peru.”
Peru has one of the world’s highest COVID-19 death rates per capita, exceeding 590 deaths per 100,000 people. In June, the death rate surpassed 180,000 people and continues to rise.
To support the humanitarian effort, Mobile-based Synergy Laboratories is matching up to $10,000 in donations to the USA Health outreach campaign. Since the pandemic emerged in early 2020, Synergy has played an integral role with USA Health’s COVID-19 testing efforts in Mobile.
“Service is at the core of what we do,” said Brad Pitts, chief executive officer of Synergy Labs. “When we heard about USA Health’s medical volunteer trip, we knew immediately we wanted to help make it a reality and to encourage others to be part of the effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 across the globe.”
CerviCusco, a nonprofit organization in Peru internationally recognized for its HPV vaccination program, is partnering with USA Health to provide COVID-19 vaccines in the Cusco, Peru, region. While the United States government recently sent 2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Peru, limited infrastructure and personnel to deliver mass quantities of vaccine will make operational administration difficult in the coming months.
CerviCusco recognized the skill with which USA Health arranged a mass vaccination site in Mobile and asked for assistance. More than 20 USA Health volunteers will travel to Peru in August to administer more than 5,000 doses of vaccine.
Since Dec. 15, 2020, USA Health has provided more than 75,000 doses of the vaccine to residents of the upper Gulf Coast, including at mass events where more than 2,200 people received injections in a day.
A partnership between USA Health and the City of Mobile has provided the region’s only academic health system with access to public spaces for drive-through COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, paramedics and security support among other services needed to help stop the spread of the virus along the Gulf Coast and beyond.
While the cost of the vaccine is covered, this humanitarian effort needs your help to offset the travel and operational expenses. Please use this link to donate to the effort: usahealthsystem.com/global-outreach.
