SANTIAGO - Chile's Ministry of Health on Thursday said 50 percent of the target population have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

Some 7,600,908 people, or half of the 15 million people considered enough to create herd immunity in a country of around 19 million inhabitants, have been inoculated, Health Minister Enrique Paris said at a press conference.

"This morning we have accomplished a milestone," said Paris, thanking healthcare workers and the National Immunization Plan for the progress made.

Of the total number of people vaccinated, 5,126,051 have got both doses, or 32.7 percent of the target population.

Chile began its mass vaccination campaign in February, after inoculating healthcare workers in December 2020 and January 2021. Most of the population in the South American country have received the CoronaVac vaccine made by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac.

To date, 1,101,698 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Chile and 24,766 died from the disease.

Chile has been facing an increase in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, with hospitals being overwhelmed amid record numbers of daily cases.