COVID-19: Chile was the country that vaccinated the highest percentage of its population in the world in the first week of March

In the first week of March, Chile was the country that, on average, applied the highest number of COVID-19 vaccines globally compared to its total population. According to the specialized statistical platform Our world in data, the Andean country had administered 1.08 doses per 100 inhabitants as of March 8 – the last day for which figures are available. He thus dethroned Israel, whose figure was 1.03 per 100 inhabitants.

34 days after the start of the vaccination process, the Chilean Ministry of Health reported that As of Monday, 4.18 million people had applied at least one dose, or 21.9 percent of the population. 4 percent of the population has been fully immunized and the total number of vaccines provided is 4,948,483.

Sebastián Piñera’s government echoed the statistic and described it as a “new source of pride”. “To continue to work more united than ever so that together we will overcome this pandemic”, the administration added via a post on the official Twitter account.

Chile is fifth on the list of countries that have vaccinated most of its population against COVID-19, just behind the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and Israel.

Minister of health, Enrique Paris, celebrated the achievement and highlighted the efforts of the parties involved to achieve the vaccination rate. “It is not just the product of a government, it is the product of the efforts of the public health system of Chile for so many years, since the 1950s, when the opinion of Cruz-Coke and Allende came together and the national health system was formed. This is our strength, ”said Paris.

The country has guaranteed the possibility of continuing the accelerated pace of vaccination with the receipt of a fifth shipment of vaccines produced by the Chinese laboratory Sinovac. This time, 2,106,000 doses have arrived, which will be distributed in the 16 regions of the country.

According to Minister Paris, Chile currently has 10,705,651 vaccines, including 9,971,476 from Sinovac and 734,175 from Pfizer-BioNTech. A new batch from this lab should arrive in the next few days. with 224,250 additional doses.

According to health authorities, Chile will be able to respect these doses the objective of vaccinating 80% of its population before the end of June and thus achieve collective immunity. By the end of March, it is expected to vaccinate 5 million people who make up the country’s critical population. In total, Chile has guaranteed 35 million doses, enough to complete the national inoculation process.

Shipment of vaccines to Ecuador and Paraguay

On Friday March 5, the government announced the shipment of 20,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines to Ecuador, This sparked internal fears that it would affect the Chilean inoculation process. A delivery was also made to Paraguay and took place last Friday.

The sending of solidarity was highlighted by the government, which excluded that shipments would impact the Chilean vaccination process. Interior Minister Rodrigo Delgado said in this regard that the aid “It is within the framework of a solidarity sending which began to take shape during the meetings of Prosur“.

The government’s decision to send these vaccines is justified because both countries face complex scenarios due to health infections. “The conditions for health workers in Ecuador are quite complex,” Delgado said.

Finally, Medical supplies have also been sent to help fight the coronavirus. “Some drugs have been included for people who need to be intubated. This was done without any palliative element, ”concluded Delgado.

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