Santiago, Feb 24 (IANS): More than 1 million people in Chile have received a second booster shot against Covid-19, amid a wave of infections triggered by the Omicron variant, the Health Ministry has said.

In its report, the Ministry on Wednesday added that 1,006,329 doses of a second booster vaccine have been applied in the country since January 2022.

In the initial stage of the vaccination push, the second dose was prioritised for those who are immunocompromised, followed by healthcare workers and then the general population, Xinhua news agency reported.

The government decided to administer a second dose to alleviate the impact of the Omicron variant, which in the past few weeks has led to a record number of new infections.

President Sebastian Pinera justified the decision, saying it has been proven that the vaccine's effectiveness wanes over time.

According to Health Ministry data, more than 48.2 million vaccine doses have been applied in the South American country since February 2021.