Santiago, Apr 14 (IANS): More than 7.4 million people in Chile have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus disease, the Ministry of Health has said.

The government's goal is to vaccinate 15 million people, or 80 per cent of the population, in the first half of 2021 in a bid to achieve herd immunity.

Amid a fresh outbreak of Covid-19 cases in Chile, Health Minister Enrique Paris on Tuesday told reporters at a press conference that 7,444,769 inhabitants had received at least one dose of vaccine, including 4,815,079 who had received both doses, Xinhua reported.

The voluntary vaccination campaign launched in December by the government initially targeted those in the healthcare sector and other essential workers, in addition to the elderly and people with chronic ailments or medical conditions.

Cases of Covid-19 have been on the rise in recent weeks, following the austral summer season and the return to in-person classes at schools in March, among other things.

In response, the government imposed lockdown measures on more than 80 per cent of the country's population, including the entire Metropolitan region, where the capital Santiago is located. Among the measures are closing borders and non-essential businesses.

To date, Chile has registered over one million infections and 24,518 deaths from the virus.