How did Uruguay go from pandemic success story to near-collapse?

Throughout 2020, Uruguay was a figurative island in South America. As the region became the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, the nation of 3.5 million people managed to avoid a Covid-19 collapse, having among the world’s lowest per capita death rates. But this fell apart in 2021.

A continuous increase in case numbers has caused panic in Uruguay. On Wednesday, President Luis Lacalle Pou announced a mass vaccination campaign will take place at the end of the month in an attempt to contain the spread.

On Sunday, Uruguay surpassed Brazil as having the highest number of new coronavirus cases per capita in Latin America, according to Our World in Data. Last week, the country recorded a daily average of 33.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, bringing the overall totals up to 73,770 infections and 725 deaths.

While this may not sound like much in comparison to the catastrophe in neighboring Brazil, Uruguay went for entire...