New Health Plan/One Year After Mexico City Metro Collapsed

COVID-19 vaccination will continue. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador assured that the federal government will continue to administer COVID-19 doses to the entire population, including minors. “We are going to continue vaccinating, this including children. Fortunately, we are no longer in the same situation as at the beginning of the pandemic. Now we only have an average of one death per day.

The World Health Organization has determined that a strong responsiveness, high vaccination coverage, low mortality numbers and few positive cases are the criteria to consider the end of the COVID-19 epidemic state within countries. Currently, Mexico has a hospital occupation of 2 percent and a vaccination coverage of 90 percent in people over 18 years old.

In addition, Mexico Deputy Minister of Health Hugo López-Gatell announced that children between the ages of 12 and 17 can register for the COVID-19 vaccine. The move comes after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved for children between the ages of five to 11 years in emergency cases.

New health plan in 15 states. General Director of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) Zoé Robledo reported that a diagnosis is being developed in 15 states to create a new plan to improve the national health system. “The mission is to provide medical care, especially for those who do not have social security. We are looking to improve the situation because the people urgently need it."

The goal of the new health plan is to have 347 hospitals and 7,033 first-level units fully operational and 46,043 health personnel working. Robledo stressed that the main problem in the health system is the lack of personnel, since around 33,020 health workers are needed throughout the country.  The states that are being included in the diagnosis are Baja California Sur, Campeche, Colima, Mexico City, Durango, Michoacan, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Sonora, Sinaloa, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi.

Meeting with Latin American lithium producing countries. López Obrador announced that the Mexican government is in contact with the governments of Bolivia, Argentina and Chile to create a regional support association for the exploitation of lithium. In addition, López Obrador stressed that the governments will also work together to achieve the development of new technologies to exploit lithium. “There has been communication with the president of Bolivia, Argentina and Chile since their countries have important lithium deposits. We want to hear their experiences as well to create an association that helps all lithium producers in the region.”

On April 19, the initiative to modify articles 1, 5, 9 and 10 of the Mining Law was approved. The new reform to the Mining Law seeks to guarantee the self-determination and energy sovereignty of Mexico through the nationalization of lithium and other strategic minerals. The reform proposes not to grant concessions, contracts, licenses, permits or authorizations to any private company interested in lithium.In addition, it commissions the Mexican Geological Service to find deposits rich in lithium and create a method to extract the mineral as soon as possible.

One year after the collapse of the Mexico City Metro Line 12. A year after its collapse, López Obrador sent his condolences to the families of the victims. In addition, the president assured that the government continues to investigate the accident and bring justice and charge those responsible. “We send an affectionate hug to the families of the victims. It was a very unfortunate and sad event. We are making progress in the case and  Mexico City´s government has been in communication with the relatives of the victims.”

On May 3, a Mexico City subway train overpass collapsed. The accident occurred between stations Olivo and Tezonco of Line 12 of the Mexico City Metro, the system’s newest subway line. A train was traveling over it when the accident occurred leading to the deaths  of 25 people, with 80 more wounded, reported Mexico City’s Civil Protection. After a thorough investigation, it has been concluded that the accident was caused by construction and design errors that have put the structure at risk in the long-term. Today, the Mexico City Prosecutor's Office said that a hearing will be held next Monday to charge eight people and two representatives of legal entities for the crimes of homicide, injuries and negligent damage.