Mexican officials have reversed their previous position against giving coronavirus booster shots and said Tuesday they are studying a plan to administer third doses to people over 60.
The announcement came as Mexico nears 450,000 deaths from COVID-19. The country has fully vaccinated only about 50% of its 126 million people.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said plans for the boosters are still being drawn up, but added, “It won’t be long, we have the vaccines.”
López Obrador’s administration has long resisted adopting measures like mandatory face masks, mass testing and travel restrictions that have been used in many other countries.
Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell had said as recently as August that there was no scientific evidence to justify giving booster shots, and suggested they were part of a campaign by vaccine manufacturers to increase sales.
“This proposal is being strongly pushed by the pharmaceutical companies, but it has been rejected by international organizations … because there is no scientific evidence indicating the need for booster shots,” López-Gatell said at the time.
The government also long resisted vaccinating minors, but recently relented and began administering shots to youths between 15 and 17 years of age.
Of special concern are the nation’s teachers, almost all of whom got the CanSino Chinese vaccine in the spring. There have been suggestions that single-dose vaccine’s protection begins to wane.
Mexico’s test-confirmed coronavirus death toll stood at 293,950 on Tuesday, but because the country does so little testing, many people have died without tests. The government’s own analysis of death certificates indicates the real toll is about 448,658.
Officials have been downplaying the threat posed by the Omicron variant first identified in South Africa, saying the new strain illustrates the need to get more vaccines to poorer countries.
Receive the PVDN newsletter, exclusive content, and Whatsapp messaging for emergency alerts, by becoming a PVDN Supporter, Become a Sponsor here.Or if you would like to make a one-time donation to show support for independent news make a donation here.
“It’s not that the new variant is terrible,” López Obrador “It’s that the poor countries of the world have been abandoned.”
True to form, López Obrador said there would be dance music at a massive gathering he is planning in Mexico City’s vast main plaza Wednesday to celebrate his first three years in office. The president, as usual, said face masks would be optional.
“Those who want to wear face masks can do so,” López Obrador said. “We are against authoritarianism.”
Trending Stories Right Now on PVDN
- Jalisco New Generation Cartel hitman arrested in Puerto Vallarta Agents from the Secretary of National Defense were part of an operation in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, land of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel ( CJNG ) in which they arrested an alleged hitman from the group linked to organized crime. At approximately 4:00 in the morning, they reported that a large number of elements, vehicles,…
- Two Canadians killed in shooting at Xcaret hotel in Quintana Roo Two Canadians were killed Friday and one more wounded in a shooting at a hotel along Mexico’s Caribbean coast, state authorities said. Quintana Roo state security chief Lucio Hernández said via Twitter that authorities were searching for a Hotel Xcaret guest in the shooting. He shared a photo of a man walking with a handgun.…
- Coronavirus in Mexico as of January 21, 2022 This Friday, January 21, the Ministry of Health (SSa) announced that until the cutoff at 5:00 p.m. (Central Mexico time), 4,595,589 total accumulated cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the country since the pandemic began. As for the number of deaths, to date, a total of 302,721 deaths were reported. With these numbers, in…
- Hundreds of dead fish wash ashore in Puerto Vallarta Hundreds of fish washed ashore this Tuesday at Palmares beach, located south of the city of Puerto Vallarta, causing the astonishment of locals. According to fishermen in the area, it is not common to see this species near the beach because they are deep-sea fish, so they believe that some tide brought them to the…
- Omicron makes up 90% of all new cases in Puerto Vallarta The municipalities of Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta lead the rebound in cases of COVID-19 in Jalisco and are the ones with the highest circulation of the omicron variant; explained the researcher Víctor Manuel González Romero, detailed that the behavior of greater circulation of the virus is maintained where there is a greater concentration of people.…
