Since the first doses of vaccines landed in Chile in December 2020, the country has been recognized internationally month after month due to how it has handled the pandemic compared to the rest of the world: either for being at the top of a world ranking, for some global recognition, for being at the forefront of studies and measures, for outstanding figures or for contributions from Chilean talent to the fight against Covid-19.
This is the timeline of the main milestones highlighted internationally on the management of the pandemic in Chile, starting from the most recent – the renowned 2022 Franz Edelman Award for Chile's achievements in data analysis to curb the pandemic – to the day the first vaccines arrived in the country to kick off the successful vaccination campaign. Also highlighting the contributions that have been made from Chile to the world.
April 2022:
Franz Edelman Award 2022: On April 4, Chile receives the 2022 Franz Edelman Award from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (Informs), the leading international data science association, for its achievements in data analytics to curb the pandemic. The award was presented to the Institute of Complex Engineering Systems (ISCI) housed at the University of Chile, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Science and Entel.
Featured in normality ranking: Chile is the country that rises the most in the Economist's ranking of global normality (The Global Normalcy Index), rising 10.6 points among the countries that are returning the fastest to pre-pandemic living conditions.
March 2022:
Lower mortality: Chile had the lowest mortality from Covid-19 in South America in the first two years of the pandemic, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, whose study was published in the scientific journal The Lancet.
February 2022:
Featured platform in Nature: The data platform on the pandemic promoted by the Chilean Ministry of Science and the Chilean scientific community was recognized by Edouard Mathieu, one of the members of the Our World in Data platform in the journal Nature.
Gratitude in the region: Paraguay thanks Chile for sending 120,000 vaccines against Covid-19 during 2021.
January 2022:
Economic performance during the pandemic: Chile is recognized among the 5 countries with the best economic performance during the pandemic, according to The Economist.
Vaccination in animals: Chile is at the forefront of the process of vaccinating animals at the Buin Zoo, setting the tone for the rest of the world with this pilot project.
Fourth dose: Chile becomes the second country in the world, only behind Israel, to apply the fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. This dose was started the following month.
December 2021:
Best country to get through the pandemic: Chile was chosen by Bloomberg as the best country to get through the pandemic and the Omicron variant during the end-of-year holidays, out of a total of 53 countries measured in the Covid resilience ranking. Days later, Bloomberg headlined "What's the Reason for Chile's Success in Handling the Pandemic?" attributing it in large part to the successful vaccination campaign.
Further progress in booster doses: Chile becomes the country with the greatest progress in booster vaccination, according to Our World in Data:
October 2021:
Third Dose Study: Thanks to its advanced pace of vaccination, one of the first studies on the effectiveness of a booster dose was carried out in Chile. Their results revealed that it reduces the risk of hospitalization by up to 96%.
Best Central Banker in a Pandemic: Then-central bank president Mario Marcel was voted the best central banker in Latin America for his exceptional achievement in helping to steer the economy through a pandemic.
September 2021:
Leader in vaccines in minors: in September 2021, Chile approved the use of vaccines for children from the age of 6. Then, in November, Chile became the first country in South America to allow vaccination for children between the ages of 3 and 6.
August 2021:
Chilean study reveals effectiveness: A pioneering study conducted by the Chilean Ministry of Health revealed the effectiveness of the different vaccines applied in the country, showing that both Pfizer and Sinovac maintain high levels of effectiveness in preventing hospitalizations and admission to Intensive Care Units (ICU).
The role of former Undersecretary Paula Daza: "Chile's successful management of Covid has a woman behind it, Paula Daza," headlined the international media after an interview reproduced in various articles.
Pioneering clinical trial in a recital: an event called "La Música Ensaya" with 200 volunteers, organized by the Chilean Society of Musical Authors and Performers and the University of Chile, served as a clinical trial to measure the impact of musical shows on the spread of Covid-19. The results, measured a week later through an exit PCR test, showed that none of the attendees were infected.
July 2021:
Best Performance in Latin America: According to an Ipsos survey of 380 opinion leaders from 14 countries in the region, Chile is the country that has performed best in terms of controlling the virus in Latin America (76%).
Varnish against Covid-19: the Chilean startup NanoService creates a varnish that makes it possible to eliminate Covid-19 with copper nanoparticles.
June 2021:
Scorch among global urban innovations: The commune of Renca was highlighted in the Bloomberg Philanthropies 2021 Mayors Challenge, as one of the 50 global urban innovations emerging from the pandemic, for gathering the wisdom of older adults to create community development projects and reduce isolation.
Detection of Covid-19 in asymptomatic patients: Chilean Rodrigo Young, a researcher at the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College London, creates a novel method to help detect Covid-19 in asymptomatic patients. Their study was published in the journal eLife.
Device to measure the risk of contagion: Chilean scientists from the University of Chile have created an instrument that measures CO2 in closed environments to assess the risk of Covid-19 contagion.
March 2021:
Leader in doses administered: During the first week of March 2021, Chile appeared as the leading country in the administration of Covid-19 vaccine doses per 100 inhabitants, according to the Our World in data ranking, an initiative of researchers at the University of Oxford.
Fourth most transparent country in the world: Chile ranks fourth in the world in the Covid data transparency index, out of a total of 100 countries evaluated by TotalAnalysis, behind only Belgium, Norway and the United States.
Superteacher in a pandemic: Eduardo Parraguez, a Spanish teacher at the Padre Esteban Gumucio school in La Granja (Santiago), was highlighted in an article in the Spanish newspaper El País as one of the 10 super teachers in Latin America, for creating a radio program to replicate the link between the school and students who were locked up in their homes due to mobility restrictions.
February 2021:
Pioneering research with alpaca antibodies: The prestigious journal Nature published the work carried out by researchers from the Universidad Austral de Chile, to create a therapy against Covid-19 with alpaca antibodies, work that had been developed since April 2020. Later, in April 2021, these antibodies were found to fight the Brazilian, British, and South African variants of the coronavirus.
January 2021:
Resilience against Covid-19: Chile appears to be at the top of the list of countries to live through the pandemic, according to Bloomberg's January 2021 The Covid Resilience Ranking.
December 2020:
First vaccines: The first 10 thousand doses of Pfizer vaccines land in Chile, starting the vaccination process against Covid-19 in the country. These first doses are a priority for medical personnel who are fighting the pandemic. Mass vaccination is expected to begin in February 2021, following the arrival of 4 million doses of Sinovac vaccines.
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