Election Violence / AMLO: Respect Vaccination Plan

AMLO laments the death of Prince Philip. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent his condolences to the British royal family after the death of Prince Philip. "I send my condolences to his family and friends in the United Kingdom after the death of Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II of England," said López Obrador. A statement from Buckingham Palace announced the death of the Duke of Edinburgh and explained that he passed away peacefully this morning at Windsor Castle at the age of 99.

Good news for the Mexican COVID-19 vaccine. López Obrador said that there is good news regarding the Patria COVID-19 vaccine, which, he said, would be provided next Tuesday at the Pulse of Health conference. "Yesterday, it was agreed to report on vaccines that are being studied for production in Mexico, vaccines made by Mexican scientists, Mexican companies and the Patria vaccine, but we will not report it until Tuesday," said López Obrador. AMLO will be vaccinated at the National Palace. López Obrador shared that he will be vaccinated at the National Palace to set an example for older adults. "I am going to get vaccinated here to show my fellow veterans that there is no problem," said López Obrador.

Teacher vaccinations will begin in April. López Obrador said that the vaccination of teachers is expected to begin April 15-20, as the vaccination of older adults will be completed before the end of April. In addition, he said the plan is to vaccinate them with the CanSino vaccine since it is a single dose. "We are thinking of more than 3 million education workers in public and private schools, not just teachers, but all the educational staff." In addition, López Obrador reported that the strategy is also to administer the second dose to the elderly and start vaccinating the next group, which are those between 50 and 59 years old.

AMLO asks medical staff to wait their turn to get vaccinated. López Obrador said he understood the demand of medical personnel who do not work in COVID-19 hospitals to be vaccinated. However, López Obrador said that the government has an immunization strategy, so he asked them to wait their turn since the plan was made with the recommendations of specialists. "I understand the demand of doctors and are not dismissing that, but we already have a strategy that we believe will help us all. I have to make it very clear that there is no manipulation, the vaccine is universally applied." López Obrador also assured the medical staff that regardless of whether they work in private or public hospitals, the antigen will be for everyone because "it is applied with the principle of equality."

Electoral violence remains a major problem. Minister of Security and Citizen Protection Rosa Icela Rodríguez announced that the government is seeking to protect more than 21,000 candidates ahead of the June legislative elections. "They are being threatened by organized crime or white-collar crime, regardless of color or ideologies, but they can be certain that they are not alone. We will not allow criminal parties to decide (the election)." Icela explained that 117 candidates have been threatened or attacked, of which 71 were men and 46 women. She added that the government has registered 103 attacks, has 60 open investigations and 10 cases of disappearance or death. Icela explained that 47 percent of the cases are concentrated in the State of Mexico, Veracruz, Nuevo Leon, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosi and Quintana Roo, and 82 percent are candidates for municipal positions, while the rest are candidates for government or deputies.

Fuel leak in Ecatepec led to the discovery of clandestine intakes. National Civil Protection Coordinator Laura Velázquez explained that last week's fuel leak in Ecatepec, State of Mexico, had a dangerously high explosive potential. "On March 29, CONAGUA issued a report due to the presence of a gaseous odor at the El Caracol pumping plant, which had a record explosive rate of 70 percent." Velázquez explained that after the leak was detected, the authorities found eight clandestine fuel intakes and four tunnels that were being used to steal fuel. Velázquez highlighted that 538 Civil Protection members worked more than 240 hours to close the intakes, resume the operation of the oil pipelines and reduce the danger of explosion. Javier González Villar, Director of PEMEX, explained that on Monday it was reported that there was no risk of explosion.

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