COVID: Chile to start vaccination drive for children 6 to 11 with 'specific comorbidities'

The Deputy Minister of Public Health of Chile, Paula Daza, announced on Wednesday that the Chilean government would start its COVID-19 vaccine campaign from next week, targeting teenagers aged 14 to 17, and kids aged 6 to 11 with underlying medical conditions. As per ANI, Daza informed, “Between Monday, Sept. 13 and Thursday, Sept. 16, all adolescents between 14 and 17 years of age can be vaccinated at the Cesfams (Family Health Community Centers) ... as well as minors between 6 and 11 years of age with specific comorbidities." Daza believes that this initiative is crucial as it will protect teenagers as well as children.   

On Monday, The Institute of Public Health of Chile sanctioned the emergency usage of the CoronaVac vaccine, manufactured by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac, for children and teenagers aged between 6 to 17 to battle against the coronavirus disease. Children aged 12 and above in Chile were being inoculated for COVID-19 illness with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination before the announcement. 

As per the Associated Press, The Sinovac- CoronaVac vaccine consequences on 4,000 children aged 3 to 17 are now being studied by the Catholic University of Chile. According to the director of Chile's Public Health Institute, Heriberto García stated that the researchers from Public Health Institute concluded their opinion depending on the study of information provided by the Sinovac facility and information released in medical publications. 

Some of the few nations in Latin America have authorised the Pfizer vaccine for youngsters aged 12 and over. on the other hand, Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccinations for children aged 3 to 17 have been approved in China. As per AP, Pfizer vaccination is approved for children aged 12 in the United States, Canada, Singapore, and Hong Kong. 

COVID cases in Chile

As per the most recent statistics from the Ministry of Health, approximately 13,207,294 persons in Chile have already been immunised against COVID-19 with both vaccine shots or a single dose, accounting for 86.89 percent of the vaccine targeted population of 15.2 million people. Almost 26,419,036 dosages of COVID-19 vaccinations, mostly CoronaVac, have been given in the country. Due to the social distancing strategies and a continuing vaccination effort, Chile has recorded the lowest instances of new daily COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. Nearly 355 new cases have been recorded in the last 24 hours throughout the nation. 

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