Chile receives new shipment of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccines

SANTIAGO, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chile received a new shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac on Friday.

According to the Chilean Ministry of Health, this is the 16th shipment of Sinovac doses to arrive in the South American country since February.

The shipment was received at Santiago International Airport by Health Minister Enrique Paris and Deputy Health Minister Paula Daza, both of whom urged the public to get vaccinated.

"Almost 90 percent of people have received their first dose and we want everyone to be vaccinated. Therefore, on Monday and Tuesday, people aged 18 and above can go to vaccine centers to be inoculated with the Sinovac, AstraZeneca or CanSino vaccine," said Daza.

Chile has worked to bolster its immunization campaign by making more vaccine centers available, she added.

CoronaVac vaccine, developed by Sinovac, was approved for emergency use in Chile earlier this year by the Public Health Institute, based on recommendations of the committee of experts convened to assess the efficacy and safety of vaccines against the virus.

To date, some 84.54 percent of Chile's target population has been fully vaccinated, while 89.97 percent of the population has received at least one dose.

According to the Health Ministry, the target population includes just over 15.2 million people, or 80 percent of Chile's total population.

The country has registered 1,632,441 COVID-19 cases and 36,566 related deaths, but in recent weeks, it has reported the lowest number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths since the onset of the pandemic.