FEB. 24, 2021

The arrival in Chile of the eighth shipment of vaccines will boost the immunization campaign against COVID-19.

Health Minister Enrique Paris reported that people on dialysis will be vaccinated starting this week.

The eighth shipment of vaccines against COVID-19 arrived in Chile this morning. The Heath Minister, Enrique Paris, who together with the Public Health Undersecretary, Paula Daza, waited for the arrival of the doses at the logistical operator responsible for storing and distributing the vaccines, reported that 189,150 Pfizer – BioNTech vaccines had been received.

We are very pleased to receive this new shipment, with which we will surpass 500,000 doses of Pfizer–BioNTech vaccines. In addition, we have received 3,836,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines so far. Tomorrow we will receive another two million and a further two million Sinovac doses on Friday. Therefore, everyone should feel assured that they will get the vaccines that correspond to them,” said Minister Paris, referring to the supplies for the vaccination rollout. As of yesterday, over three million people had received a first dose of vaccine.

The vaccination calendar for this week will prioritize senior citizens over 65. We have already provided coverage to more than 75% of this group but want to reach 80%, as we know that this is the group who is most at risk when they get sick,” said Undersecretary Daza.

We are calling on all people 65 years and over who have not yet been vaccinated to get the vaccine. If they have a mobility impairment or disability or are bedridden at home, they should call their local primary care provider so that we can vaccinate them,” was the Undersecretary’s message to the community.

It is three weeks since the mass vaccination rollout got underway in Chile. The Health Minister explained how the vaccination of people with chronic diseases will be prioritized.

We’ve decided to start, between tomorrow and next Friday, with the vaccination of people on dialysis.  In Chile, there are approximately 24,000 people on dialysis due to renal failure,” explained the Minister.

As of yesterday, we had succeeded in vaccinating 19% of the susceptible population. Other countries which have vaccinated 25% of their high-risk population have started to notice a reduction in the number of new patients and patients entering Intensive Care Units. We expect to reach this target by the end of March and so we don’t expect to see the number of infected people dropping before April 15,” said Minister Enrique Paris referring to the evolution of the pandemic based on the progress of the vaccination plan.