on the one hand mass vaccination, on the other nothing

Doña Bernardita Torres Alvarado lives in Dorotea, a small place in Chile, located just 5 kilometers from Río Turbio, in Santa Cruz. A stretch of the mountain range between the two towns which, due to the good weather, can be done on foot.

She is 74 and her husband, Ernesto Gómez, 66. They both received this Tuesday the first dose of Pfizer-Biontech vaccine at Escuela N1 in Puerto Natales, a town of 20,000 inhabitants 17 kilometers from his home, known to be the gateway Torres del Paine National Park. Due to age and health (they have no comorbidities) it wasn’t their turn until a few days later, but the abundance of doses and the intensity of the trans-Andean countryside embraced them. unscrupulous.

Both are part of the 2 million people which have already been inoculated in Chile as part of the bold massive procedure promoted by the government of President Sebastián Piñera. An action which, moreover, brought its positive image to 22% after two years of decline, according to the Plaza Pública de Cadem survey.

“It didn’t hurt a bit, we were finally back to normal, even though they told us we would continue with a chin strap all year,” she said happily. Bugle the retired teacher.

During the last 7 days, all the elderly in Dorotea, around 150 inhabitants, have been vaccinated. If, for example, the grandparents could not move out, two nurses they were responsible for going to their homes.

By next week, the 65- to 90-year-old segment will be completed across the Magallanes region, which includes Punta Arenas, the capital of around 120,000 residents, Puerto Natales, Río Verde, Lago Blanco, among other municipalities.

Teachers and officials will come immediately. Health workers began to be vaccinated in December 2020. At least for now, minors, youth and young adults will not be vaccinated as most of them do not show symptoms, according to the report. has been revealed. However, Chile purchased 36 million vaccines from different laboratories for a total population of 20 million.

In the far south, Puerto Natales and Dorotea, they are vaccinated at a rate of 300 daily doses. Meanwhile, in Río Turbio, next door, there is little news about what will happen with the provincial program. As he could find out Bugle So far, only part of the health workers in the mining town have been vaccinated. A lot.

Río Turbio has less than 10,000 inhabitants and 40 active cases. Puerto Natales exceeds 20 thousand inhabitants with 72 active cases. In Magallanes, with approximately 170,000 inhabitants, 20,831 cases have been recorded. In Santa Cruz, with more than 300,000, 35,157 cases.

The 1,350 doses sent to Santa Cruz in January were distributed 900 to Río Gallegos and 450 to El Calafate. From these localities, he would decide which fraction corresponded to the rest of the province. Everything indicates that in Río Turbio, El Calafate and Río Gallegos the number of vaccinated will remain the same in the same period. That is less than 1,500 vaccines for some 250,000 inhabitants who are impatiently awaiting their turn.

The last health campaign in Magallanes, intended for the segment of 85 and 90 years and over, had left a balance of 6,536 people vaccinated on February 3 and 5. But the pace picked up from Monday 8. On average, more than 500 doses are applied in the region each day. At the end of the new stage, around 30,000 people will be protected.

“There is a very strong culture of obedience in this countryChildren are different, especially the elderly, but adults do what the standard says. Then we will do the vaccination in order, ”explains Enelsa Torres, the sister of Bernadette, theater teacher and owner of an inn.

“The combination of Chile’s oiled ability to do business and its vocation for social protocol has been very successful in speeding up the vaccination process,” says Guillermo Muñoz, teacher and communications director at the National Forestry Corporation (CONAF) in Magallanes.

On the Argentine side, the population remains isolated from the rest of the country, with a curfew that begins at midnight and those traveling out of town must undergo 14 days of isolation upon return. For months, traffic between Río Turbio and November 28 was restricted. And there are 12 kilometers from each other.

“Some of the health workers have been vaccinated here, but the neighbors have no news,” said a neighbor, a local hairdresser who prefers to protect her name. But there are many examples of the slowness of the procedure. Carlos Torres, for example, an 84-year-old grandfather who lives in YPF’s “dormitories”, dilapidated buildings that originally housed minors, has not received the vaccine. Carlos, like hundreds of other elderly people in the city, has been locked in his home since March 2020.

On the Chilean side, next week all Magallanes will return to normal land communications, leaving isolation and delays behind. The region lives mainly from fishing, the countryside and international tourism.

The city received private structural investments in water and networks for around USD 10 million in 2020 despite the pandemic. In Río Turbio, no significant disbursements have been recorded in recent months.

Meanwhile, the tourist structure awaits the arrival in the area of ​​more than 500 thousand tourists between September 2021 and March 2022. The value of plane tickets reflects this projection. For the month of March, Santiago-Punta Arenas tickets are already sold at $ 20 per section.