Chilean paradox continues: the country approaches sanitary collapse despite vaccination record

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Chileans are confined this Easter despite the country leading the Americas in vaccination.

With 36% of its population already immunized, Chile has the highest percentage of vaccinated people in the Americas and among other countries in the world, is only surpassed by the Seychelles, Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates.

The Chilean paradox is that even though more than a third of the population is already vaccinated, almost 80% -residents of the Santiago metropolitan area and other urban centers- have restricted their activities due to the measures dictated a few days ago by the government, given the recent rapid increase in the number of cases.

The number of infections exceeded 8,112 on Friday, April 2, a record figure since the pandemic began a year ago. The occupancy of intensive care units – 2,804 – also set a new record;  more than half are in the Chilean capital and its outskirts, where in the last three weeks the number of patients in critical care beds has grown by 50%. There are very few free intensive care beds left in the country, as occupancy is already at 96% of capacity.

The authorities show their concern every day. President Sebastián Piñera asked Chileans for “patience” and reminded them that “vaccine protection is not immediate”. The conservative president has seen the successful immunization campaign eclipsed by the second wave of the virus’s irruption. Now the government is being criticized for carrying out a de-escalation during the southern summer months when citizens have enjoyed their vacations with few restrictions.

Epidemiologists warned during the summer of the probable growth of cases and the spread of the coronavirus throughout the country during the vacations and the risk of importing new strains, such as the Brazilian one, after the borders were reopened so that Chileans could travel abroad again.

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The Minister of Health, Enrique París, is in the eye of the storm due to the worsening of the pandemic, and more and more voices are asking Piñera for a change in the ministry. Paris was involved in controversy this week when he accused The New York Times and The Washington Post of “agreeing” to criticize the country.

Both U.S. newspapers published texts on Tuesday in which they coincided in affirming that the government’s enthusiasm for the vaccination campaign and the relaxation of the protection measures caused an excess of confidence in the population. Other international media also published this week’s reports supporting the same thesis.

In criticizing these U.S. newspapers, Paris defended the government’s performance and clarified that he had always said that the effects of full immunization would not be seen until June. “We have to give a light of hope to Chileans, and the vaccine is a light of hope; but we have said ad nauseam that this is going to be obtained on June 30”, affirmed the minister. For its part, The New York Times replied to Paris using a tweet where the New York newspaper assured that “it works to report the truth and question power and we will continue to do so.”

Paris himself considered the rampant increase in cases as “worrying”. The borders have been closed again this week, and only Chileans or resident foreigners will be able to enter Chile after a mandatory five-day quarantine in a hotel to be paid by the travelers before completing the isolation at home if they do not test positive.

The immunization campaign began at the end of December, when Chile became the first South American country to start vaccinating. With 19 million inhabitants, the country has more than 23,000 deaths and more than one million contagions.

Elections delayed, to be held on May 15 and 16

The Congress is preparing to approve the postponement of the constituent elections scheduled for April 11.

A sign of the health crisis’s seriousness is that Piñera has asked Parliament to postpone the municipal and regional elections and the Constitutional Convention, which drafts the new Chilean constitution.

The elections are scheduled for April 10 and 11. Still, Congress is expected to postpone them to May 15 and 16 by means of a law that will most likely be approved in the next few days, with the opposition’s endorsement, after the Chilean Medical Association proposed it.

The rapid spread of the second wave of covid is equally worrying throughout South America, especially in the Southern Cone, where the first cold autumn weather arrives. Except for Brazil – with a denialist government – most countries, such as Argentina, have also restricted their territory in recent days.

However, Peru and Ecuador, where the pandemic is also hitting hard, are maintaining their scheduled presidential elections on April 11.

Source: La Vanguardia