Chile begins vaccinating people under 30 against COVID-19

SANTIAGO - Chile on Tuesday began vaccinating people under the age of 30 as part of the country's mass inoculation campaign against COVID-19, which has immunized 50 percent of the target population so far.

According to the Ministry of Health, 15,200,840 people, or 80 percent of the country's total population, will be inoculated by June 30, including about 23 percent between 18 and 29 years old.

In an event to kick off this new stage, Minister Secretary General of the Government Jaime Bellolio highlighted that more than 9 million people have been vaccinated with their first dose and over 7.5 million with their second dose, although he warned that "it does not mean that measures should be relaxed, but that progress has been made in recovering our freedoms."

Meanwhile, experts are concerned about the increase in mobility of vaccinated people, given that COVID-19 cases have risen in the last few days, warning that this was not the "epidemiological moment" for greater mobility since it could provoke a significant resurgence.

Chile on Tuesday registered 4,188 new infections and 37 more deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 1,339,421 cases and 28,585 deaths.