Mexico’s COVID-19 Vaccination Figures, Facts

Last week, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador celebrated that most adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, which was part of his promise to immunize the entire population. However, there are still significant disparities in vaccination rates across the country.

Almost a year since the start of the vaccination campaign, several regions register high immunization rates. According to Oliva Lopez, Minister of Health of Mexico City, the capital and largest city of the county “celebrates that the city achieved 95 percent coverage of COVID-19 vaccination in people aged 18 and over.” The capital carried out 34 vaccination phases to reach this goal, and along with Quintana Roo and Queretaro, has a vaccination rate of almost a 100 percent.

However, Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca and Puebla have much smaller vaccination rates as in those states only about 60 percent of the population has received at least one dose of a vaccine. According to El Financiero, Chiapas’ low rates of vaccination are caused in part by the large indigenous population, which is refusing to get the jab.

In spite the disparities in vaccination, last week, President López Obrador shared “the good news; the commitment to apply at least one dose to all Mexicans, women and men over 18 years of age, has already been fulfilled.” López Obrador recognized that there are those who have not agreed to be vaccinated, “but they are changing their minds. We will continue to convince those who have not been vaccinated and we will continue with the second doses."

Deputy Minister of Health, Hugo López-Gatell, assured that so far in the country a total of 125.7 million doses against COVID-19 have been applied. He shared that 81 percent of the population already has the complete vaccination scheme, while 83 percent of the elderly have at least one vaccine.

Nevertheless, demand for vaccines for children and teenagers continues to grow but Minister of Health Jorge Alcocer has stated that the country does not have plans to expand vaccination campaigns to minors any further. Mexico is currently vaccinating children between 12 and 18 with preexisting health conditions.

On the other hand, third or booster shots have been also dismissed by the Ministry of Health. According to Alcocer, third doses are possible “but we still do not know the dynamics of the virus to know the bases of what, when it is reinforced or for which patients or for which individuals it is recommended, for that reason it is estimated that it would be until the first trimester of 2022."

Abroad, Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcelo Ebrard continues to urge other countries to embrace equal vaccination. During his participation on the G20 summit, Ebrard asked his counterparts to “recognize the validity of all WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines and do not restrict them for geopolitical reasons.” Ebrard noted that vaccines such as Sputnik V (from Russia) or CanSino (from China) are not valid to travel to the US and the EU.