This new vaccination location has a capacity for between 1,000 and 1,200 people a day, thus contributing to the fulfillment of the vaccination plan which is managed and carried out by the Chilean Ministry of Health and its Regional Ministerial Secretariats.

Over the next three months, the Olympic Stadium of the university Universidad de La Frontera (UFRO) will be an important COVID-19 vaccination site in the La Araucanía Region. The sports arena and its infrastructure will be a significant contribution to the successful achievement of the national mass vaccination plan. The vaccination process is in full swing in Chile, and in this region, it is led by the Regional Ministerial Secretariat of Health.

“Once again, the Universidad de La Frontera supports public health – the health of the people in the La Araucanía Region. The size of this building is a major advantage that helps us to continue to move forward with this strategic vaccination process, which is key if we want to contain this pandemic. We want to thank UFRO, its Rector, its authorities and the whole university community for offering this possibility and thus helping us with the vaccination process,” said Gloria Rodríguez, the Regional Minister of Health in the La Araucanía Region, during the inauguration of this new vaccination location, where the commodatum agreement for the premises was signed.

The Rector of UFRO, Dr. Eduardo Hebel Weiss, emphasized the cooperation with the health authorities of the region since the beginning of the pandemic, making available all the existing capabilities of the university in the fight against COVID-19.

“It is an honor for our university to contribute to the public health of the region and the country. No matter what happens, we will always be willing to cooperate in any strategy the health authorities consider appropriate,” Dr. Hebel said.

COLLABORATIVE WORK

As part of its institutional commitment with the region and the country, UFRO has contributed in the fight against COVID-19 with numerous different actions and work teams since March 2020. Some of the examples are the manufacturing and delivery of face shields, the development of a mechanical ventilator prototype, the provision of two laboratories for the evaluation of COVID-19 tests, the implementation of a corona tracing center, the significant efforts of the research team regarding the clinical trial for CanSino Biologics’ Covid-19 vaccine, etc.

HERD IMMUNITY STRATEGY

The vaccination of all citizens appears to be the key to contain the pandemic and its lethal effects.

The inoculation of 80% of the population will stop the transmission of this virus. This is why it is important to follow the indications of the health authorities and to continue with the self-care measures: hand hygiene, use of masks and social distancing.

“This vaccination consists of two doses, after which you have to wait at least a month to develop good immunity, maintaining the mentioned self-care measures. In our opinion, it is important that the entire population is vaccinated as soon as possible, because once 80% of the population is vaccinated, we will be able to achieve the so-called herd immunity, which should interrupt the transmission of the virus. In this respect, the support of the Universidad de La Frontera so far is fundamental to reach our goal as soon as possible,” concluded Gloria Rodríguez.

Written by: Communications Office, UFRO