Nine COVID-19 Vaccines Now Available in Mexico

As Mexican children return to school, authorities rush to purchase and approve as many vaccines as possible. Meanwhile, another pharmaceutical asked for the approval of booster shots to further protect citizens against the Delta COVID-19 variant.

Here is the week in health!

Vaccination Efforts Move Forward

-COFEPRIS authorized the emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine of Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm. It is the ninth vaccine approved in Mexico, along with those made by Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, CanSino Biologics, Sputnik V, Sinovac, Covaxin, Janssen and Moderna.

-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard, announced that in the next few days Mexico will approve phase three clinical trials of China’s Walvax vaccine, US’s Inovio and France’s Sanofi.

-This week vaccination in Mexico City was suspended due to the lack of vaccines caused by a "bottleneck" in COFEPRIS, said the head of the Public Innovation Agency, Eduardo Clark. However, he affirmed that 90 percent of adults in Mexico City already have at least one dose of vaccine and 50 percent have the complete scheme

-Moderna announced on Wednesday that it had begun submitting a request to the US FDA to authorize the application of a booster of its COVID-19 vaccine. The first two doses consisted on 100µg and the third was 50µg. Results from clinical trials showed that the booster shot increased levels of neutralizing antibodies against variants of concern, including Delta.

Decentralizing Care Attention

-IMSS and ISSSTE will swap personnel to strengthen healthcare in remote communities. Luis Antonio Ramírez Pineda, Director General of ISSSTE informed that this alternative seems to be the best options that would allow both institutions to streamline and improve services. The decentralization of healthcare workers in big cities is one of the most important challenges that Mexican healthcare services face. For this reason, institutes exhort young doctors to work in remote communities, which will support the transformation of health services in Mexico.

A Challenged Return to School

-As the Mexican government announced weeks ago, students from elementary to middle school returned to in-person classes across the country this Monday in 29 states.

Mexico City’s return to face-to-face education was successful, said in a press conference Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, who assured that roughly 90 percent of the city’s schools were able to open. With 2.4 million elementary and middle school students in Mexico City, it is still early to know what percentage of them have already returned.

Financial Support Options for Healthcare

-Considering the reality of out-of-pocket patients and lower-income citizens, Grupo Torre Médica has developed financial solutions to support patients during a health emergency or complication. Read our interview with Gustavo Fernández, Director General of Grupo Torre Médica, to find out more.

-Technology is also an ally to avoid financial hardships due to health complications. Learn how asistensi, a platform for emergency insurance and immediate medical assistance, supports patients with complex financial situations. Here is our interview with its Executive President Andrés González-Silén.