Mexico City – With the arrival of a new batch of more than 400,000 Pfizer vaccines, Mexico will begin mass vaccination against the coronavirus today, as was announced last Saturday by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO).
“We are going to start a massive vaccination campaign next Tuesday, because next Tuesday more than 400,000 doses of Pfizer will arrive and we already have contracts with other pharmaceutical companies for other vaccines,” the president said on Saturday during a tour of Colima, where he inaugurated the headquarters of the National Guard in Tecomán.
López Obrador said that the federal government’s plan is that by the end of March, “all the elderly in the country will be vaccinated.”
He added that to achieve this objective, work is being done on the formation and deployment of 10,000 vaccination brigades with the purpose of vaccinating 15 million older (60+ years of age) adults.
AMLO explained that each of these brigades will be made up of 12 public servants from different institutions: four social promoters of the Welfare Programs, two professionals from the Health sector, four elements of the Armed Forces (Sedena, Navy, National Guard) and two volunteers.
The president has previously mentioned on numerous occasions that his objective is to have all medical and health personnel who directly care for people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the so-called “Covid Hospitals” throughout the country vaccinated by the end of this month.
As such, the first 1,000 brigades that will start working today will be deployed to begin vaccinating 750,000 medical workers in the 1,015 Covid Hospitals throughout the country that they are currently serving.
The next stage of vaccination will be focused on protecting the elderly – starting with those who are over the age of 60.
The goal, according to the president, is to eventually have 10,000 brigades working throughout the country until everyone is vaccinated. Each of these brigades will be tasked with administering 300 vaccinations per week. If they achieve that goal, 3 million shots will be given every week, meaning that 12 million people could receive at least one dose of a vaccine in the space of a month.
“If we achieve this – and we are going to achieve it – mortality, death from COVID in the country will be reduced by 80%, that’s what the specialists and doctors have told us, 80% we will be able to reduce the mortality or deaths of those who become ill and lose their lives due to COVID,” said the president.
Mexico expects to receive additional shipments of the vaccine produced by the Pfizer laboratory, each with 438,800 doses, on January 18 and 25.
“The brigade is going to take care that there are no abuses… we are all going to take care of that; there is going to be surveillance in everything, even the places where the vaccine will be stored, said the president during yesterday morning’s press conference.
Sources: LopezObrador.org.mx • Expansión Politica • El Universal