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Mexican officials announced Tuesday that health care workers will receive top priority when the country’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign begins this month, with other vulnerable populations following in the coming months.
Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told reporters the country will receive 250,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in December, the majority of which will be given to health care workers in Mexico City, the center of the country’s outbreak.
In January, February, and March an additional 1 million doses of that same vaccine will arrive each month. Ebrard added an additional 12 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine will arrive in April. That will be enough to vaccinate roughly 7.6 million Mexicans, given the Pfizer vaccine’s two-dose requirement.
In the first phase of the program, from December through February, health care workers will exclusively receive vaccinations. In the second phase, from February through April, remaining health care workers and adults aged 60 and over will receive priority.
The next phases will see those 50-59 years of age vaccinated, followed by those 40-49 years of age, with the rest of the country getting vaccinated after that. The country hopes to vaccinate 75% of citizens over age 16 by the first quarter of 2022. The main goal of the campaign is to reduce Covid-19 deaths, officials said at Tuesday’s briefing.
Mexico says it has purchases agreements for tens of millions more doses from other vaccine suppliers and hopes to finalize those agreements in the coming weeks and months. Health officials added that Mexico’s military will assist the country’s health ministry with the logistics of vaccine distribution.
Mexico has the fourth highest number of Covid-19 deaths worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.
