The increase in infections in recent weeks, the low-risk population inoculated with the bivalent vaccine and the appearance of the new BF.7 variant which is already present in Chile, impose “aggressive” strategies, says the executive director of the Center for Policies public from the Universidad del Desarrollo and the former Undersecretary of Public Health, Paula Daza.
– What analysis do you have of the increase in Covid-19 infections in recent weeks?
-What we have seen in the world is that it has started in China in the last month and some countries. The pandemic continues and it shows the appearance of new variants of Omicron in all parts of the world and also in Chile. We are already seeing it in cases that have increased by 20% in the last week and on the other hand we have seen an increase in positivities. We know that when that happens it means more sick people and we can probably have more people hospitalised. However, beyond the cases, the most worrying thing in our country today is the poor vaccination coverage of the bivalent dose, because what we know and have learned in the last two years is that the most important strategy to contain the pandemic is vaccination.
– What do you attribute it to?
In the early years we had excellent vaccination coverage in Chile. This has allowed us to reduce cases, reduce the number of patients and resume this path that we are following today, which is a path with more freedom and which allows us to have the activity that we so much wanted. This would be the sixth consecutive week in which the administration of bivalent vaccines decreases, in fact the coverage we have always had has been more than 80% of this population, the target population has not exceeded 20%.
Today the target population of the bivalent vaccine are the people most at risk, they are the over 60s, the chronically ill, the immunocompromised and also the healthcare personnel. The risk range of the over-60s does not exceed 24%, the chronically ill when we see the analyzes reach just 3%. So what is risky and worrying is the low coverage of bivalent vaccines that allow people not to get seriously ill.
-How do you evaluate the management of the Ministry of Health in 2022?
-The Undersecretary of Public Health, in charge of the vaccination campaign, in charge of the vaccination strategy, had a poor performance, especially on the subject of Covid. We are not only talking about the vaccination campaign, but also about tests, communication strategies and the numbers prove it.
Because despite the increase in cases, despite the increase in Covid in the world, where alarms are being triggered, we in Chile do not see an aggressive strategy regarding vaccination, which is the most important thing in order to contain this pandemic and I think it requires a the will on the part of the Undersecretary for Public Health, a strategy with his health departments and to be focused on the issues that are most important today, which is Covid.
-What are the factors that denote the low coverage of the bivalent vaccine? What measures should the government take to promote this process?
Well, I think there are a lot of things here that are super relevant. First of all, the risk profile continues to be important from the point of view of public health and here the most important thing is that of the Ministry and the Undersecretary of Public Health, especially those in charge of vaccination campaigns and programmes.
The most relevant thing is to strengthen vaccination strategies and risk communication, today people have a low risk perception in the sense that they do not see that there is an important concern regarding this issue and this probably means that people do not get vaccinated and therefore strengthen the communication risk in a very important way, carry out a communication campaign, be in the field with people.
What other measures would you recommend?
– Vaccination strategies. We must bring vaccination closer to the population, it is not enough for the vaccination centers to be open from 9 to 4 in the afternoon. People will probably go to work so when they go at vaccination times it’s closed. On weekends (you have to) approach with cell phones where the elderly are. I remember that we approached with cell phones where they will go to collect their pension, that is, to see the vaccination campaign on the street and we didn’t see it.
I think there is a vaccination strategy here, particularly in the last few weeks, which is serious.
-The lack of information to the public has also been criticized. How much does that factor weigh in the current situation?
-There is a platform that the Ministry of Health has set up, which says that the health personnel of the target population today is 351,000 people, of which 201,000 have been vaccinated. But let’s go to the data of the DEIS (Department of Statistics and Health Information) and it is said that 713,000 people classified as health personnel have received the first dose, so it is also important to understand why the Undersecretary of Public Health has decided to reduce the target population of the health personnel of 250,000 people. There is probably a reason but it is important to clarify and inform the population.
-If the vaccination process is not accelerated, what repercussions can it bring?
– If this target population, which is the one with the highest risk of being hospitalized, of falling seriously ill, has not received the bivalent dose in the coming months, it is probably a population that if these variants arrive, which are already arriving. .. there is a risk that these people could obviously become seriously ill. So having a strategy, which we already have in Chile regarding vaccines and we know it works and we are not using it, is very serious for the population.