After several months of worsening infection trends in the context of a second wave of COVID-19, the numbers appear to be stabilizing, reflecting the successful vaccination campaign and lower mobility trends.. The 7-day moving average of new daily cases had recently risen to record highs in recent weeks, exceeding 7,300. This week that figure has fallen 10% to approximately 6,700 as a result of the decline in new daily cases, and should continue to trend downward given the high vaccination rate.

On a similar note, the 7-day moving average of positive tests over total tests has steadily increased over the past few months reaching 12% seen last week. This figure has begun to trend downward in recent days and currently stands at 11%. Worsening contagion trends seen during the second wave had led to increases in the ICU bed occupancy rate, which rose to a record high of 96% seen just over a week ago. We expect this number to decline in the coming weeks assuming that the number of new cases per day continues to decrease.

Chile has already vaccinated almost 8 million people, equivalent to 40% of the population.. Similarly, a total of more than 5.5 million people have received both doses, which implies that 29% of the country has been fully vaccinated.

Chile continues to receive shipments of the vaccine at a high rate, with the latest shipment of 266,175 doses from Pfizer.with the latest shipment containing 266,175 doses from Pfizer. To date, the country has received 15,826,101 doses, with the vast majority corresponding to Sinovac. In fact, 90.1% of those vaccinated have received the Sinovac vaccine, with the remainder receiving the Pfizer vaccine.

This week, the Ministry of Health released the results of the Sinovac vaccine efficacy study. According to these, the vaccine protects against symptomatic COVID-19 infection as well as more severe forms of the disease. The vaccine is 67% effective in preventing COVID-19 symptoms, 85% effective in preventing hospitalization, 89% effective in preventing ICU admission and 80% effective in preventing death.