During the day of this Monday, the Minister (s) of Health, Fernando Araos together with the Minister of Social Development and Family, Giorgio Jackson; the National Director of Senadis, Daniel Concha, and the Undersecretary(s) of Public Health, Fernando González, led a vaccination operation for people with severe and profound disabilities and their caregivers. This, within the framework of vaccination strategy with Bivalent against Covid-19.
As of last Monday the 16th, the target groups for vaccination with Bivalent -inoculation that protects against both the original strain of the Wuhan virus and the Omicron variant- were expanded, including as of that date people from the age of 50, as well as transportation officials, Education, Gendarmerie and people deprived of liberty, among others.
In this regard, the Minister(s) of Health, Fernando Araos, indicated that “due to the appearance of new variants and subvariants of Covid-19 of concern, which have caused an increase in cases in the world, as a government we are developing the vaccination strategy for all people who are in risk groups ”.
To reinforce vaccination and be able to reach the entire population of the country, the authority also detailed, “more than 45 billion pesos have been delivered to communes throughout Chile” and that “more than 250 vaccination points in addition to those that already exist from Arica to Magallanes” have been activated.
“The call is to get vaccinated, it is the most efficient measure to reduce consultations or get seriously ill And they can do it by going to any vaccination center nationwide.”, he pointed out.
For his part, the Minister of Social Development, Giorgio Jackson, stressed that “This is a State effort so that the people who are most at risk, We can help prevent them. Because vaccines are not only science, vaccines are life protection”.
Regarding figures, the head of the Social Development portfolio explained that people with some type of disability in Chile are of the order of 2.7 million, while the people who have some type of dependency are close to 1 and a half million. When it comes to severe dependency, he added, there are almost 500,000 people. “And all of them, as well as those who care for them, are lives that we want to protect.”
Regarding how caregivers can access this vaccination, the Minister (s) of Health indicated that it is not necessary to prove with any document that they are a caregiver. “Just self-report, go to the vaccination point, say that you are the caregiver,” he said. That is to say, it is enough for the person to tell the health personnel present at the vaccination center who is caring for a person with a severe or profound disability and in this way can receive their inoculation.
For his part, the National Director of Senadis, Daniel Concha, called on people with disabilities to Register in the National Disability Registry, which is the only valid mechanism to prove disability.andd and access benefits such as being prioritized to access the Bivalent vaccine.
