Chile Undersecretary Daza confirms that a fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccine is in the works

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – At a press briefing on the search for active cases in schools, the Secretary of State for Health, Paula Daza, referred to the fourth booster dose and confirmed that work is underway to develop it.

Since the third vaccine is still under development, it is not an option for this year. “In the next six months, it will be challenging to know when is the most appropriate time to administer the fourth dose,” she said.

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The government representative said the vaccine is already in the works and is expected to be available next year. “We have been working with several laboratories that we have worked with so far to have these vaccines available next year,” she said.

The undersecretary took the opportunity to point out that the process of the third dose of vaccines has been very positive, as many people have been vaccinated. “We have a good response to the voluntary vaccination,” she said.

Daza said it was not clear whether mandatory vaccination would increase coverage regarding the introduction of mandatory vaccination.

CHILE WITH MOST NEW COVID CASES PER MILLION INHABITANTS

The announcement of a fourth covid shot comes at a time when Chile, despite exemplary vaccination efforts, has recently become the South American country with the most new Covid-19 cases per day per million inhabitants. A trend that seems unstoppable.

According to the El Mercurio newspaper, the corresponding rate in Chile is 67 diagnoses per day, which is more than Brazil (50), Uruguay (46), and almost double that of Bolivia (31).

In its report Wednesday, the Ministry of Health (Minsal) reported 1,206 infections and an increase of 49% and 61% compared to seven and 14 days, respectively.

Oxford University’s Our World in Data platform also documented this increase, with a rate of 70.65 cases per million population between Oct. 14 and 20.