President Piñera launches COVID-19 vaccination process for children between three and five years of age: “Safer children means parents will be more at ease, families will be happier and Chile will be a better place”
From Monday, December 6, close to 700,000 children will be able to get vaccinated with their parent’s consent. The vaccination process will be carried out in Family Health Centers (Centros de Salud Familiar, CESFAM) and vaccination centers throughout Chile.
On Monday morning, the President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, launched the COVID-19 vaccination process for children between three and five years of age in Chile.
“Besides protecting our children, this vaccine also protects their parents, their families, and allows children to be able to play safer, relax and have fun, to be children, with the peace of mind that comes with being protected,” the President stated during his visit to the vaccination center at the National Stadium’s velodrome. He was accompanied by Health Minister Enrique Paris, Social Development Minister Karla Rubilar and Undersecretaries María Teresa Valenzuela and Alberto Dougnac.
The vaccination of children will take place in the CESFAM and vaccination centers that are functioning throughout the country. The President also announced that vaccination workers could visit schools and preschools if the micro-planning of primary care in each municipality decides and facilitates it.
The vaccines that have been approved by regulatory authorities to be used on children and adolescents are safe and effective.
“Putting children first in line is a commitment that has been at the heart of our government and for which we have made every effort. Today, with the start of the vaccination process for children between three and five years of age, we are taking the next step towards better protecting our children,” the President reiterated.
The COVID-19 vaccination process began on December 24, 2020, in Chile for healthcare workers and was extended to the rest of the population from February, 2021, making the country one of the fastest in the world to progress in its vaccination process.
Booster shots began to be given on August 11, 2021, again making Chile one of the first countries in the world to administer an additional dose on top of the primary vaccination scheme.
According to figures provided by the Statistics and Health Information Department, 41,532,402 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered as of December 4. Of these, 13,651,336 correspond to a first dose, 13,303,552 to a second dose, 573,196 to a single-dose vaccine, 8,957,322 to a booster dose and 5,046,996 to doses given to the population between six and seventeen years of age.
“I want to firmly state that safer children means parents will be more at ease, families will be happier and Chile will be a better place,” President Piñera concluded.