In Santiago, every week about a thousand people are infected with coronavirus. Ten of them die.
(From Santiago, Chile) For many it is just a bad memory, but for the Chilean health authorities, Covid-19 continues and will continue to give headaches. This was stated by the head of the Infections Associated with Health Care Program (IAAS) of the Clinical Hospital of the University of Chile, infectious disease specialist Marcela Cifuentes, who warned about the increase in positive cases in recent weeks.
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“We are in an epidemiological scenario of sustained increase in cases. We currently have a PCR positivity of 5.1%, much more in antigens, with a little more than 1,000 new weekly cases and 10 weekly deaths. All this only in the Metropolitan Region, with data until November 8, 2023″, he reported in an interview for radio U. De Chile.
After the worrying increase in weekly coronavirus cases throughout the country, the Undersecretary of Health, Andrea Albagli, confirmed this Thursday that the “most updated in the world” vaccine against Covid-19 will arrive in Chile today.
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In conversation with radio Cooperativa, the authority explained that “the XBB 1.5 vaccine arrives in Chile and we are going to distribute it quickly so that it is available at vaccination points next week. So, since there are very few days left, it is better that people who will receive the annual booster wait and go to get vaccinated next week.”
The undersecretary assured that “this is how they will receive the vaccine that is the most updated worldwide, which protects against the most predominant strain today in community circulation, which is a sublineage of the Ómicron variant, which is XBB 1.5.” .
“I must say that we are very happy that Chile is the first country in Latin America to offer this vaccine to its population. So this has to make us all proud because Chile, with its State policies, has remained at the forefront from the beginning in terms of Covid-19 vaccination,” he added.
Asked about the universality or targeting of the vaccine, Albagli maintained that “what is clear is that there are two different things. One is the initial scheme, which when we started with Covid-19 vaccination, was a strategy for the general population. This initial scheme is intended for all people over 6 months”
“Another thing is the annual reinforcements, which are and will continue to be prioritized for the highest risk people. “Not all of us have the same risk of becoming seriously ill if we become infected with Covid-19, and that is why not all people need to have an annual booster, but only the groups that are prioritized for being at higher risk,” he added. .
“So far, four have been identified: people over 60 years of age, health workers, immunocompromised people and people with chronic diseases such as asthma, hypertension, diabetes or obesity, which are chronic diseases that, effectively, increase the risk. “to generate a serious condition if infected by Covid-19,” he noted.
“These four groups today are part of the targeted groups to receive the annual reinforcement and of those there are some that are already serving one year. Some turned one year old on October 11, there are others who perhaps turned one year old today, there are others who turned one year old in December, it depends on the exact date that is the one they received their last reinforcement,” the undersecretary closed.
2023-11-17 14:06:00
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