The booster vaccination for teachers in Mexico will start on January 12 in Colima, Baja California and the State of Mexico, as announced by the Secretary of Public Education, Delfina Gómez. During the morning of this Saturday, a shipment with 2.7 doses of Moderna’s vaccine arrived at the Mexico City airport. The set of vials is part of a donation from the White House to the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador. With these vaccines, the Administration hopes to cover the protection for all teachers in Mexico, both those in the public sector and those who work in private institutions.
Gómez explained that the day to administer the vaccine will reach all the States of the Republic and will last until January 23. During 2021, the Mexican government vaccinated 2.7 million teachers between April and May, mainly with the biological CanSino, so more than 8 months have passed since its inoculation. Moderna’s vaccine is of the messenger RNA type and has been shown to be effective against the omicron variant of the virus.
In Mexico, classes continue to be face-to-face, despite the fact that a dozen States have opted for hybrid or remote models given the national increase in covid infections. The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) rejected the return to face-to-face classes and announced that it will impose the hybrid system. López Obrador has insisted that higher education institutions should return to face-to-face classes.
In the last week, infections by the omicron variant have grown by 875% and in the last three days the officially reported cases are no longer less than 20,000. On Friday, the Mexican government announced that the country has exceeded 300,000 deaths from the virus since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. In some cities of the country, pharmacies, laboratories and covid testing centers have been overwhelmed by the rise of the disease. The López Obrador Administration has sought to call Mexicans to calm in the face of the increase in infections with two messages: that omicron is less aggressive than other variants and that vaccination is enough to deal with it.
The shipment of Morena’s vaccines arrived late in Mexico. The Government had planned to begin its application this weekend, however, bad weather and a snow storm in the United States delayed the flight with the doses. One of the most common criticisms of the López Obrador government has been that the booster vaccination has begun with delays in the country. So far, only medical personnel and people over 60 years of age have been boosted. Inoculation is planned for people over 40 years of age in the next few days.
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