Coronavirus: The controversy that disturbs the vaccination process in Chile: 37,000 people received doses prematurely | Society

Skip the tail. That’s what at least 37,000 people in Chile did when they got the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine before other groups defined by the government as a priority in the process, including the elderly and the elderly. people with chronic illnesses. A controversy that has obscured a process described as exemplary by national and international experts, where until Friday doses had been administered to 2.7 million people, thus placing the South American country at the head of the region and fifth in the world among the countries with the best vaccination rates (with 12.43 vaccines per 100 people) according to data from Our World In Data.

More specifically, there are 37,306 people who do not belong to the priority groups: they are neither the elderly, nor health personnel, nor residents of nursing homes, nor personnel who provide essential or reviews. At least 9,517 correspond to people between the ages of 18 and 39, according to figures from the Department of Statistics of the Ministry of Health. Regarding the origin of those who “skipped the queue”, 11,669 reside in the metropolitan area, namely La Florida, the municipality that leads this indicator, with 2,886 people who do not belong to the priority groups and who received the first dose, the administration of which depends on the municipalities. Among them, Rodolfo Carter, the mayor of the municipality located in the southern part of the capital, recognized firefighters and police personnel, as well as workers at free fairs and other businesses.

The situation was described as “unusual” by the Minister of Health, Enrique Paris, while the Under-Secretary for Public Health, Paula Daza, assured in statements on the radio that the complaint would be the subject of ‘investigation. Vaccination of people who are not in priority groups adds to the controversy due to changes in the immunization schedule for chronically ill patients under the age of 60, who would initially start receiving doses on February 22, but have been postponed to March 8.

“The fact that nearly 40,000 people devoid of risk factors have been vaccinated before people who are more likely to fall seriously ill and die, it is losing the spirit and the transparency of the process, which must always be guided by technical and medical regulations, and not because of some kind of pressure, ”says Claudia Cortés, an academic at the University of Chile. Cortés – who cares for people living with HIV or who have been transplanted – explains that what happened has not only ethical or human implications, but behind it are lives at risk, in a scenario “Having a chronic disease increases your risk of dying, regardless of your age.”

One of the Chileans waiting for his vaccine is Víctor Hugo Robles, 52, hypertensive and who has been living with HIV since the early 1990s, at a time when antiretroviral treatment was not guaranteed in Chile. “Immunization is very urgent for people like me and many others living with HIV who have co-morbidities. We do not understand and are sorry that the immunization schedule for people with chronic illnesses has been delayed. “That there are 40,000 healthy people, who are not qualified in priority groups, skipping the line is the most violent and individualistic expression of this health system,” added Robles, who appealed justice to demand that the immunization process include mechanisms to protect the privacy of people living with HIV.

Another Chilean who is still not receiving his first dose is civil engineer Luis Larraín, who at the age of 40 has been transplanted twice due to polycystic kidney disease (PKD). “The big forgotten are the chronically ill, who were supposed to be a priority and now we are told that we will start on March 8, and by age. The truth is, I don’t know when it’s time to get the shot ”.

“We are in danger of death. Most people who have been vaccinated and who are not older adults do not have this high probability of death. But as chronically ill, we are not a union, we are not organized or have leadership, we have lost in this situation, where everyone is trying to have priority, ”he says.

Although organizations such as the Medical College have called on the government to correct the change and initiate vaccination of chronic patients during the initial period, this has been ruled out. As detailed by the president of the union, Izkia Siches – who this week was highlighted among the 100 emerging leaders of the world by Time magazine – she received a call this Friday from President Sebastián Piñera, who would have explained to her that the new calendar would be maintained “so as not to confuse the population”.

Siches emphasizes that vaccination “must be a process which follows a sanitary logic and which is respected by the whole country, without privileges or pressure groups. No one can pretend to skip the line ”. The situation of people who were vaccinated before their time has added to the controversy the government is facing with teachers, who refuse to resume classes on March 1 without having previously vaccinated all staff working in the establishments, among others. conditions for a safe return. A crisis that intensified after the Minister of the Economy, Lucas Palacios, assured that “the College of professors all they are looking for are arguments not to work”.

The Chilean vaccination plan – whose massive phase began on February 3 – predicts that by the end of March, a total of 5 million people will have received at least the first dose against covid-19, and it should achieve collective immunity by the end. of the first half of 2021. This Thursday 161 thousand doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have arrived in the country and next week, 4 million additional doses of that developed by the Chinese laboratory Sinovac will be received, which played a crucial role in the vaccination strategy.

Subscribe here for newsletter of EL PAÍS América and receive all the informative keys of the news of the region