COVID-19 in Mexico Moving Into 2021

Mexico started its vaccination program last month and to this day, Mexico City has applied the first dose of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine to over 28,030 health workers, Claudia Sheinbaum, Mayor of Mexico City tweeted yesterday. The vaccine has to be reapplied 21 days later for proper immunization. Last week, a Mexican nurse was the first person to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Latina America, receiving the vaccine on Dec. 24.

Buen día. Me informa @SSalud_mx a través de la @SSaludCdMx que han sido vacunad@s en la Ciudad hasta la fecha 28,030 trabajador@s de la salud de todas las instituciones. Hoy sigue la vacunación. Mientras tanto para tod@s por favor no bajemos la guardia #ProtegeteYProtegeALosDemas pic.twitter.com/eLYLsBfAhz

— Claudia Sheinbaum (@Claudiashein) January 3, 2021

According to the official vaccination plan, in the first stage around 125,000 health workers will be vaccinated, reports el Economista. Currently, the Mexican government has vaccinated around 22.4 percent of the health workers selected. Mexico has 250,000 Pfizer vaccines ready for the first stage of vaccination which is planned to finish by February 2021.

Last Saturday, President López Obrador announced that on Jan. 5, over 50,000 vaccines against COVID-19 will arrive in the country. Three weeks after, Mexico will have around 1.4 million doses of the vaccine, reported El Financiero. These vaccines are set to be used on health workers taking care of patients with COVID-19, representing around 750,000 doctors, nurses and health workers. “We are the first country to apply the vaccine against COVID in Latin America,” said the president. “We have received 53,625 doses and have applied over 32,824 vaccines to workers in the health sector,” he continued, revealing that around 85 percent of vaccinations have occurred in Mexico City. López Obrador assured people that by March, over 15 million people over 60 years old will be vaccinated. Finally, he reminded people of the efforts made by the Mexican government to guarantee more safety, more available beds and healthier doctors. “Hospital occupation never exceeded 90 percent because we increased the availability of hospital beds, hospitals, specialists and equipment. We believe that we are going through the worst part but the situation did not surpass us,” he declared, according to La Vanguardia.

However, there were concerns regarding a 32-year-old doctor in Nuevo Leon who developed a negative reaction to the vaccine. Thirty minutes after the vaccination she presented skin rash, seizures, decreased muscle strength and shortness of breath, reported Forbes Mexico. The doctor is currently under intensive care at IMSS in Nuevo Leon. The Ministry of Health revealed the doctor has a clinic history of allergies, particularly to Trimethoprim and Sulfamethoxazole, reported Forbes Mexico.