Chile approved on Wednesday the emergency use of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V against the coronavirus, the sixth approved in the South American country to combat the pandemic.
Heribert García, director of the Institute of Public Health (ISP), the Chilean regulatory body, said the measure was approved with five votes in favor, two abstentions and one against. He added that the inoculant from the Russian laboratory Gamaleya will be applied to those over 18 years of age.
Previously, the vaccines from Pfizer, Sinovac, Astrazeneca, Sinopharm and Cansino received the endorsement for their use.
The vaccine “is 91.6% effective after a second dose,” which is applied 21 days after the first, García explained. Sputnik V has been licensed in dozens of countries, including several in Latin America.
Chile has so far applied the first dose of vaccines against COVID-19 to more than 85% of the vaccinable population (15.2 million) and the two doses to 77%.
The authorities reported 989 infections on Wednesday and a positivity of 2.7%, one of the lowest records in recent months, but reported 42 new deaths. Experts are concerned about the delta variant, of which more than 30 cases have already been identified in Chile.
The country has so far registered 1.6 million infections and more than 34,000 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.
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