SANTIAGO (AP) — Chile, the first country in the region to begin vaccination with the bivalent vaccine against the original coronavirus and the omicron variant, is far from the goal of vaccinating the over 50s and the chronically ill: five months after the start of the process, it only immunized 25.3%.
The South American country was the first in Latin America and the Caribbean to simultaneously purchase several vaccines against COVID-19 and, exactly three years after the arrival of the coronavirus on Chilean soil, it has immunized just over 90 % of over 18 years of age with two primary doses and with the same number of boosters.
However, the road has become bumpy when applying the fifth dose of the bivalent vaccine: since October, only 2.1 million people have come for the dose that protects against the original Wuham virus and the variant. omicron, the latter being the most common. The government of President Gabriel Boric has set itself the goal of vaccinating eight million people before the arrival of the austral winter in June.
Critics of former health authorities in the government of Sebastián Piñera (2018-2022) and infectious disease specialists have multiplied in recent days, to the point that the current Undersecretary of Health, Cristóbal Cuadrado, came out on Friday to dismiss the comments and assured that “I have no doubt that we will reach 80% of the groups at risk”.