DEC. 23, 2020

President Piñera announces the arrival of vaccines on Thursday and the start of Chile's vaccination process: "This was the result of a tremendous effort"

The first 10,000 doses will arrive in Chile on Thursday, December 24, which will be given to healthcare personnel who are working to combat COVID-19.

The President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, announced that the first 10,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will arrive in Chile on Thursday, December 24, and the vaccination program will begin immediately.

"The plane will arrive in Chile tomorrow at around 7am, and we are ready to begin the vaccination program," said the President in a statement at La Moneda Palace, where he was accompanied by the Health Ministers Enrique Paris and Foreign Affairs Minister Andrés Allamand.

The President explained that the first 10,000 doses will be given "to the medical personnel who are working in Intensive Care Units with critically ill patients. Our intention is to vaccinate 100% of such medical personnel in the La Araucanía, Biobío and Magallanes regions and a third of the medical personnel in the Metropolitan Region.

The President explained that the objective is to initially inoculate "healthcare personnel, senior citizens, the chronically ill and personnel combating the coronavirus, who total approximately 5 million people. 

We have managed to secure over 10 million doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and also over 10 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine. We also have agreements with other laboratories, such as AstraZeneca Oxford, with Janssen Johnson & Johnson and with COVAX. So we have ensured that we will have over 30 million vaccine doses in Chile," the President explained.

"The vaccine will be voluntary and free in Chile. Therefore, the State will provide vaccines to everyone," concluded the President.