It overtook Israel: Chile was the most vaccinated country per 100 inhabitants last week

SANTIAGO.- Chile overtook Israel on Tuesday as the country in the world with the most people vaccinated per 100 population in the past seven days, according to data from Our World in Data taken by the Chilean Ministry of Health.

Chile has administered at least one dose of the vaccine to more than 4.2 million people since he started his vaccination campaign. In addition, last Monday marked a new daily record with the administration of 319,014 doses in 24 hours, according to the newspaper. The third.

A fifth shipment of more than two million doses of vaccines from Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac arrived in Chile yesterday, Health Minister Enrique Paris said, who explained that the country This week will already have a total of 10,705,000 doses to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The cargo arrived at noon on a Latam plane which landed at the capital’s Pudahuel airport, before the minister indicated at a press conference that “the population can be sure of the arrival of vaccines “.

The total of doses received yesterday, 2,106,000, completes a total of 9,971,476 doses received, to which must also be added 224,250 which will arrive from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which explains the total of 10,705,000 available in the country.

For this day, the reception of the first doses corresponds to people between 58 and 59 years old with comorbidity, as well as to people with profound or severe disabilities who are of the same age group, explained the minister. In parallel, the administration of the second doses continues in accordance with the first steps of the mass vaccination.

Despite the success of the vaccination campaign, The health ministry continues to report a large number of positive results and restrictions will increase in several parts of the country on Thursday.

Over the weekend, the health ministry reported 5,280 active cases of coronavirus, a figure comparable to June 2020, a red flag authorities hope to combat with the vaccination process. Since the start of the pandemic, 864,064 people have been infected and 21,182 have died. Likewise, the occupancy rate of intensive care units has increased again and 1,839 patients are admitted.

Under Secretary Alberto Dougnac reported that the older age groups “in the last few weeks show a slight decrease, probably due to the effect of vaccination”. However, he noted, what the number of people under 50, which has increased considerably, is of great concern. “The number of patients admitted to intensive care units has increased very significantly compared to the month of November, being greater among those under 50 and particularly among those under 40,” he warned .

50% of the Chilean population will remain in phase 2 from Thursday, with quarantine on weekends, a value that rises to 75% in the case of the metropolitan area, to try to contain the speed of contagion at the end of the summer holidays. The changes published yesterday also affected Valparaíso, Coquimbo, La Serena – which have entered full quarantine -, and which are the cities that received the most tourists during the holiday months of January and February.

Valparaíso’s total imprisonment provoked an angry reaction from his mayor, the independent opposition Jorge Sharp, who argued that “Once again, the government of Sebastián Piñera shows that it does not have a health strategy for the fifth region.” “It is irrational, from where you look at it, that Valparaíso and Viña del Mar, in addition to other neighboring municipalities of the fifth region, which have similar health figures and infected people, are not considered around. a single health strategy, “he asked.

Sharp added that “the quarantine in Valparaíso, in this context, will generate a huge blow and damage to porteños, porteñas and to Valparaíso as a whole. We demand clarity regarding the decision, a special economic plan to support local economies and a special food plan, so that no porteño or porteña go short of food in this quarantine, which has, in our view, no sanitary sense “.

University of Valparaíso infectious disease doctor Rodrigo Cruz said that “bringing a municipality like Valparaíso back to phase 1 today is a highly questionable decision, as the effectiveness of massive containment is minimal , because people adhere less to restrictions of this type because it is difficult for you to understand that at the same time the authorities decide to open schools, casinos, large shopping centers, restaurants or beaches and, other on the other hand, they are asked to stay in houses as much as possible. Added to this is the vaccination campaign, which has tended to soften behavior by generating a false sense of security “.

The Ministry of Health assured that it was working to improve the active search for cases and that “in 10 regions, centers have been set up and our goal is for each region to have one”. With 52.7% of the country’s municipalities in stage 2, several specialists have asked to reassess the opening of gymnasiums, restaurants, cinemas and casinos in this phase. “This is a mistake, considering this is the last step before full quarantine. To have authorized restaurants, casinos, cinemas and gymnasiums does not seem very prudent ”, warned the president of the Medical College, Izkia Siches. Member of the Covid Advisory Committee, said he asked revitalize remote work to reduce mobility and distribute entry hours to the work segment.

In this context, the Electoral Service of Chile (Servel) supports the proposal of hold the next elections in two days, an initiative which was rejected Friday by the Chamber of Deputies and which now awaits to be defined in a joint committee. “This is what the Council had already decided by majority (to hold the elections on April 10 and 11), even before I presided,” said Andrés Tagle, former member of the Political Committee of the Democratic Union. ruling independent (UDI) and electoral expert, who assumed the presidency of the organization on March 1.

The same day, the executive of Sebastián Piñera sent to the Senate the project which makes it possible to hold elections, in principle scheduled for April 11, over two days: Saturday April 10 and Sunday April 11, in order to prevent Covid-19 infections, as reported by La Moneda.

The main argument is that since there will be four elections for a single day (mayors, councilors, governors and voters), voting time could increase, resulting in more people.

ANSA and DPA agencies

THE NATION

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