Chile reported the highest number of coronavirus infections in five months and began vaccination in southern regions of the country

Chile added 2,520 cases of covid-19 in the last 24 hours, the highest number since last July, and this Friday began the vaccination process of health personnel in various southern cities, the most affected by the pandemic.

To the regions of La Araucanía, Bíobio and Magallanes, the Chilean gateway to Antarctica, more than 2,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech traveled with the aim of alleviating the unfavorable epidemiological situation in several cities that have been the most important sources of the virus in the country for months.

On the eve, Chile received the first shipment of 10,000 vaccines from the American-German duo and began immunizing medical personnel in the capital, becoming the second country in Latin America to initiate the process after Mexico.

The start of vaccination occurs in full beginning of the second wave of cases in the country, which had been in full decline for three months but in the last two weeks has experienced an increase in cases that returns it to the figures of July, when the country was on the verge of health collapse.

With the 2,520 registered cases and 50 deaths that Chile added in the last day, the total balance since last March is 595,831 infections and 16,358 deaths from SARS-CoV-2.

The first batch of vaccines will go entirely to immunize one third of the medical personnel of the capital’s intensive care units and all of the health workers in La Araucanía, Magallanes and Bíobio.

The next shipment will arrive with another 10,000 doses next week and the process will continue with periodic shipments until completing the 10 million that Chile has reserved for this laboratory, health authorities reported.

After medical personnel, the vaccine, which will be free and voluntary, will be offered to the elderly, chronically ill and members of the Armed Forces – which represent approximately 5 million people – during the first quarter of 2021.

The rest of the target population, which excludes pregnant women, children and the immunosuppressed and represents about 15 million people, will be able to obtain it during the first half of 2021.

The Metropolitan Region, which is home to the capital and in which more than 7 million people live, has experienced a 15% increase in the number of cases in recent weeks and it is quarantined again on weekends and holidays, a measure that applies during the Christmas and New Years holidays.

According to the authorities, yes displacements are allowed for meetings inside homes of a maximum of 15 people with an extended curfew that begins at 02:00 local time, although interregional transfers will be prohibited.

In the rest of Chile, holiday restrictions vary depending on the epidemiology of the virus. In areas with a favorable situation, meetings of up to 30 people can be held, and in the worst, the isolated cities of the south, mandatory confinement is in force.

The authorities reported that in the last 24 hours they carried out 48,011 PCR tests throughout the country that left a nationwide positivity index of 5.25%.

With 6 million exams since March, Chile is the country that has taken the most tests per million inhabitants in the region and one of the first in the world.

(With information from EFE)

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