COVID-19 vaccination begins in Antarctica as Chile immunizes 49 people on the continent

Chile’s Air Force on Wednesday, March 17 said that the coronavirus vaccination has finally started in Antarctica. This comes after Chile becomes the ‘vaccination champion’ in Latin America. According to the reports by AP, more than 25 per cent of Chile’s population has received at least one shot of the vaccine. As per the government officials and health experts, this is all because of the country’s early negotiations and a lot of experience in dealing with vaccination programs. 

The vaccination drive in Chile

Chile’s minister of science, Andrés Couve told the Associated Press that the formal negotiations with vaccination producers began in the month of April. He further added that by May, a team had presented a plan to President Sebastián Piñera. This also included a road map about how to use the country’s network of trade agreements and its previous contracts with pharmaceutical companies to get vaccines. 

Earlier this week, Chile surpassed the mark of vaccinating 5 million people against COVID-19 in 41 days. The country reached the target two weeks earlier than the nation's self-imposed deadline. As per the reports by AP, more than half of the immunised are older adults. Also, 2 million have the second dose of the vaccine. The President, Sebastián Piñera, at a ceremony in Santiago said that reaching the goal of inoculating 5 million people, "has undoubtedly been a very difficult job and has meant the contribution of hundreds of thousands of people”. 

He further revealed that by March 24, the country will begin to inoculate the population between the age of 50 and 59. Earlier this week, the Health Ministry reported that more than 2.7 million people over 60 years of age had been vaccinated. This represents about 85 about of that age group.

(Image Credits: AP)