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Chile hopes that this year it will recover all the economic growth it lost with the coronavirus, the only major Latin American nation that did so, as rapid vaccination helps it overcome the pandemic, according to President Sebastián Piñera.
Although a strong wave of infections caused new blockages late last month, Piñera told the Financial Times that it was mainly unvaccinated young people who tested positive.
“The figures show that the vaccines we apply in Chile, Pfizer and Sinovac, are effective,” he said in an interview, dismissing doubts about the Chinese puncture.
To date, Chile has administered 65 doses of vaccine per 100 people, placing it in third place in the world after Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which have a much smaller population, thanks to the first government actions to obtain supplies. .
About 90 percent of Chileans have received the CoronaVac puncture from Sinovac, and a large-scale study by the health ministry released Friday said the Chinese vaccine had shown 67 percent effectiveness in preventing more symptomatic infections. two weeks after the second dose, although its effectiveness after one dose was much lower. It was 80% effective in preventing deaths and 85% effective in preventing hospital admissions.
The rapid pace of vaccination should allow the economy to rebound rapidly, helped by rising world prices of its main copper exporter. “We expect this year that the growth of the Chilean economy will be higher than the fall we had last year,” Piñera said. “All projections indicate that Chile will grow by 6% this year and we expect it to be more.” The economy contracted 5.8 percent last year.
Critics have attacked the government for easing mobility restrictions too quickly earlier this year, allowing a new wave of the virus to occur during the summer in the southern hemisphere and hospitals, but Piñera said that the highest rate of infection in the summer was common in many countries and new blockages controlled the disease.
Chile hopes to achieve herd immunity in June through vaccination, although a former health minister, Jaime Mañalich, has questioned whether this is possible when nearby countries such as Brazil, Peru and Argentina experience high infection rates and new variants are circulating.
The cool wave of cases has forced to postpone the elections for a special assembly to draft a new constitution in mid-May, replacing a document dating back to Pinochet’s dictatorship. The new constitution and a comprehensive social assistance package worth 10 percent of gross domestic product are the centerpiece of the government’s response to a wave of social unrest and protests that ravaged the country in October 2019.
Investors are worried that the assembly will deliberate during the campaigns for the November presidential and congressional elections and may be influenced by writing unattainable social commitments in the new charter or by weakening property rights that have made Chile a destination. main for foreign capital.
Piñera said that while no country was immune to the global “disease” of populism, he believed in the “wisdom, prudence and good judgment” of Chileans, noting that a two-thirds majority was required for the changes. , which should moderate demands.
However, as a sign of growing populismHouse lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill that allows savers to withdraw money before Chile’s private pension system to spend now, ignoring government warnings.
Piñera, speaking before the vote, told FT that “if we continue to withdraw pension savings, it will be very difficult to give our seniors, now and in the future, a pension that will allow them to live with dignity.” Analysts estimate that this time up to $ 10 billion in savings could be raised, above $ 34 billion shot in the first two withdrawals.
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