If you look at the data on the rollout of vaccines in Latin America, there is one clear outlier: Chile. The country has vaccinated just over 12% of its population, placing it just behind the US and far ahead of all its neighbors, according to national figures compiled by Our World in Data.
Chile started with some benefits. It does not have a massive population like China (there are only 19 million Chileans) or a vast, impenetrable land mass like Russia or Brazil. It is a relatively rich country with a seat among the most rich countries of the OECD. But, as Chilean international relations researcher Veronica Diaz-Cerda noted, Chile is not so wealthy that it can not negotiate lower prices of vaccine manufacturers.
Chile has also made some important decisions – in the short and long term – that enable it to perform better than other countries with comparable population sizes, geographical areas and economic status.
In fact, it has the eighth best vaccination rate in the world, among countries with populations above 100,000. (A handful of small island nations – such as the Seychelles, Cayman Islands and Bermuda – make it beat.)
Which begs the question: What did Chile do that so many of its peers did not find out?
Buy vaccines early and regularly
First, it included early transactions with several vaccine manufacturers, including Sinopharm, the American Pfizer and the British AstraZeneca in China. Chile has now ordered enough doses to vaccinate its population twice.
“Our strategy is not just one vaccine, which gives the country a wider range of vaccination options,” said Juan Carlos Said, a specialist in internal medicine at Sótero del Río Hospital outside Santiago. “We signed these deals early in the pandemic, so we received the vaccines earlier than other countries.”
He pointed out that Chile had also agreed to offer vaccine trials for Sinofarm and AstraZeneca, giving political leaders extra leverage in their negotiations to secure early doses.
A robust primary health care system
Subsequently, the country had already put in place an extensive primary health care system that was ready to deliver vaccines when they arrived there. “We have one primary care center per 40,000 people, and we have them in every corner of the country. So it is not a problem for us to reach the entire population quickly,” said Soledad Martínez, an assistant professor in public health at the University of Chile.
Chile’s system is based on the UK’s National Healthcare System, with local clinics responsible for a certain community of patients. Healthcare workers see the same patients year after year. They regularly deliver vaccines to the patients for things like flu, Hepatitis B, HPV and other diseases. All of the existing ratios have made the mobilization of the Covid-19 vaccine effort much easier.
“You all know,” Martinez said. “You know the local leaders. You know where to do it. If you need a stadium or a large gym, you already have it. ‘
Rejection of Covid-19 Incorrect Information
In the end, Chile was spared the worst of the spate of false news and misinformation that threatened the vaccine efforts elsewhere. “We do not have a strong anti-vaxxer movement in Chile,” Martínez said. “We’re seeing them make some noise on Facebook, but in the end it does not mean a very significant percentage of the population.”
Martínez suggested that Chile’s primary care system has helped build trust between health workers and the communities they see regularly. She also pointed out that the existence of the pandemic, unlike in other countries, has not become a controversial political issue. “In Chile we are very monolithic: it is true. Coronavrius exists. You can attack it with vaccines, ”she said. “There is really no debate about it among the political elite.”
Said and Martínez agreed that if there is anything other countries can take from the early success of the vaccine in Chile, it is the importance of having broad access to healthcare. “You can not experience a pandemic without a strong public health system that provides basic care to the entire population,” Said said.