Chile on Monday began vaccinating children aged 6 to 11 against COVID-19 with the CoronaVac vaccine, developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac.

“We are starting a highly anticipated process,” said Undersecretary of Public Health Paula Daza at a school in the capital Santiago, where children were getting vaccines.

Seven months into the country’s mass vaccination campaign, the government decided to expand the immunisation drive to minors to curb the pandemic as schools reopened.

“There are 1.5 million children that we hope to vaccinate in different schools,” she said.

“The vaccines are already approved, they are safe and they are effective,” she added.

Education Minister Raul Figueroa said parents must give their consent before their children get vaccinated.