Epidemiologists concerned about low vaccination: They ask for a strong hand in the face of National Holidays

Dr. Gabriel Cavada stressed that "it is urgent that the health authority does not continue wasting the heritage of vaccinated people that we have and that it provides incentives."

Dr. Erica Retamal pointed out the importance of blocking mobility passes before the national holidays.

With 43,000 active cases and more than 15 percent positivity , Chilean epidemiologists expressed concern on Thursday about the low rate of vaccination against Covid-19 and predict that a "hard hand" will be needed to avoid a higher rise in National Holidays.

According to Minsal figures, there are currently more than 1.7 million people left behind with the fourth dose , which coincides with low attendance of people at vaccinations.

In this regard, the epidemiologist at the School of Public Health of the University of Chile, Dr. Gabriel Cavada , indicated that "we only consider that two million people need to be brought up to date. With this incidence of 6,700 daily vaccines, we would need 300 days to catch up."

"Therefore, it is urgent that the health authority does not continue wasting the heritage of vaccinated people that we have and that it provides the incentives," he remarked to Cooperativa .

Dr. Erica Retamal , epidemiologist and director of the Department of Public Health at the University of Talca, maintained that "in the strategy of blocking the mobility pass, I think that it should be already being considered for the National Holidays because, in this way, if We block the mobility pass for people who are not up to date, massively, there will be a greater interest in proceeding with the vaccination ".

This Thursday's report reported 13,198 new cases , the highest number in recent weeks.