Mexico said it will begin inoculating health workers against COVID-19 on Thursday with the arrival of the first vaccines, as the government battles a sharp surge in infections that has put hospitals under immense strain.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday vaccinations will begin at hospitals in Mexico City and the northern city of Saltillo, speaking before the first Pfizer vaccines were flown into the capital from Belgium.
“It’s true that we still face a tremendous pandemic, but today is the beginning of the end,” Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told a news conference at Mexico City airport.
He did not specify how many doses arrived in the first batch amid Mexican media reports that it only contained 3,000. His ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Lopez Obrador said he would press for the vaccine to be used in additional areas as officials seek to reach workers at nearly 1,000 hospitals treating coronavirus patients nationwide.
With hospital bed occupancy rates surging, Mexico has put the heavily populated capital and two states into semi-lockdowns to try to prevent the further spread of the virus, while urging residents to avoid holiday gatherings and socializing.
Mexico has recorded a total of 1,338,426 cases and 119,495 deaths, the fourth highest death toll worldwide.
Pfizer’s is the first COVID-19 vaccine to reach Mexico.
The batch will be guarded by the armed forces in a place equipped to store the vaccines, Lopez Obrador said.
Senior citizens and people with chronic illnesses are due to be next in line to receive coronavirus vaccinations.