“People over 70, most of whom have already been vaccinated, have almost disappeared from our emergency rooms,” Ugarte told Al Jazeera on Wednesday.
“Now, we have younger patients, but some gravely ill.”
Health officials warn that vaccinations will not make much difference to the big picture right away, since 80 percent of Chileans must be fully vaccinated in order for herd immunity to be effective, and that is not predicted to happen for another three months.