Abstract
Chile, an OECD country in the southern hemisphere, surprised the world with a high speed COVID-19 vaccination rate at the beginning of 2021. Despite this, cases reached a record high again in April 2021, and the country went back to a state of emergency. The reasons for this are multiple, complex, and interconnected. A feeling of false safety with the beginning of vaccination, the appearance of new more transmissible variants, too early relaxation of non-pharmacological measures at a point of vaccination below herd immunity, and vaccination in a high prevalence setting, appear to be main reasons for the resurgence. However, the political context and the socio-economic inequalities in Chile also play an important role, and are more difficult to measure and to compare with other countries. In conclusion, the Chilean example is a warning sign not to count on vaccination figures alone, and to maintain some of the previous non-pharmaceutical strategies to contain the pandemic.
Highlights
Chile is a democratic presidential republic situated along South America’s western coast with a total population of around 19 million, and is a high-income country, member of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
“Chile; COVID; coronavirus; vaccination; vaccines” in Google Scholar and Pubmed, regularly checked and collected data from the coronavirus section of the Oxford University database “Our World in Data” related to Chile and periodically checked the website of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Chilean government and the Ministry of Health for reports and publications related to our keywords
On 18 March 2020, the Ministry of Health (“MINSAL” for its Spanish acronym) issued a nationwide health alert (“Health Alert”), granting the Chilean health authorities a series of extraordinary powers for one year in order to confront and prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus and to centralise the measures implemented during the crisis
Summary
Chile is a democratic presidential republic situated along South America’s western coast with a total population of around 19 million, and is a high-income country, member of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Since October 2019, socio-economic inequalities have triggered a wide movement of protests, demanding a change in the country’s political and social direction, and denouncing the high costs of healthcare and poor funding of education [2]. The public system focuses on primary health care, deeply connected with local communities, while the private system is specialized in secondary and tertiary services. This mixed health system contributes to inequalities in access to healthcare facilities, preventive care, and treatment [3]
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