President Piñera presents results of first study on COVID-19 booster dose, revealing increased effectiveness
The study analyzed over two million vaccinated people. It is the first in the world to present results on a booster dose using different vaccines among people initially vaccinated with an inactivated virus vaccine.
The President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, delivered the results of a study this Thursday that revealed a remarkable increase in the effectiveness of COVID-19 booster doses.
In the case of CoronaVac, effectiveness increased from 56% to 80.2%, while Pfizer-BioNTech rose from 56% to 90% and AstraZeneca went from 56% to 93%.
Regarding the prevention of hospitalization, the effectiveness of the CoronaVac booster vaccine increased from 84% to 88%, Pfizer-BioNTech from 84% to 87% and AstraZeneca from 84% to 96.3%.
“This is very good news, because it means that Chileans are better protected from the pandemic. It also shows that Chile made the right decision when, at the beginning of August, we were one of the first countries in the world to start a massive booster vaccine campaign,” the President said on opening his presentation at the La Moneda Palace. He was accompanied by Health Minister Enrique Paris and Public Health Undersecretary Paula Daza.
The study is the first in the world to present results on a booster dose using different vaccines among people initially vaccinated with an inactivated virus vaccine.
The study, led by Dr. Rafael Araos and Dr. Alejandro Jara, analyzed 4,785,749 people initially immunized with CoronaVac, of whom 2,017,878 received a booster dose.
1,506,154 people in the study received a booster dose from AstraZeneca, 371,592 from Pfizer-BioNTech and 140,132 from CoronaVac.
“The vaccines we have administered in Chile are safe and effective and have managed to significantly reduce infections, hospitalizations and, most importantly, they have contributed to saving many, many lives,” the President stated.
The booster vaccination plan, which started on August 11, has applied vaccines to those initially inoculated with vaccines from the Sinovac laboratory. During the first eight weeks, 3,547,177 people have received booster doses.
The plan took into consideration recommendations from the National Immunization Program, the Vaccines and Immunizations Advisory Committee (CAVEI), the COVID-19 Advisory Council, national scientific societies and international experts with whom the President and Health Ministry authorities have met during the past few months.
26,861,197 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Chile to date. Of these, 13,924,689 correspond to people who have received a single dose and 13,504,536 to those who have completed their vaccination scheme. This is 91.6% and 88.84%, respectively, of the target population, in a process that is free and voluntary.
Vaccination began on December 24, 2020. Chile was one of the first countries in the world to begin the process and has been one of the fastest to advance. The country has already received 38,469,784 COVID-19 vaccine doses.
“I am sure that by joining together and collaborating, we will overcome this devastating pandemic,” the President concluded.