JUNE 3, 2021

Health authorities receive the largest shipment of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to date

The new shipment contains 457,470 doses and will allow Chile’s National Vaccination Plan to keep moving forward.

Health Minister Enrique Paris, alongside Public Health Undersecretary Paula Daza, received a new shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines last Thursday, which will allow the country’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign to keep moving forward. 

The consignment, the twentieth containing the Pfizer vaccine to date, contains 457,470 doses, making it the largest to arrive in Chile from this laboratory. 

Commenting on the new consignment, Minster Paris labelled it “the most important shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to have arrived in the country.” 

Furthermore, he explained that, “we’re going to be receiving three more shipments in succession, each of 450,000 doses. We’ll therefore have more than 1.8 million Pfizer vaccines over the next three or four weeks to be able to keep vaccinating people.” 

The latest shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines will be distributed by land and air freight to Iquique, Antofagasta, Copiapó, Coquimbo, Viña del Mar, Talca, Concepción, Puerto Montt and Santiago. 

Public Health Undersecretary Paula Daza emphasized that 4.1 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine have now arrived in Chile, including the latest shipment, which will allow the country “to continue the vaccination process that is currently being carried out.” 

The total number of COVID-19 vaccines that have been procured to date is 22,301,416, a figure that includes the latest 457,470 Pfizer-BioNTech doses. 

The vaccination schedule for this week includes young people between 23 and 25 years of age. On this issue, Undersecretary Daza called for all those who have not yet been vaccinated to go to their nearest vaccination center. 

“We now know that the highest percentage of people passing on the virus and, above all, being admitted to intensive care units are those in the youngest age groups and those who have not been vaccinated,” Undersecretary Daza declared.