'Best gift in 2020' says nurse to get first COVID-19 vaccine in Mexico
- 3 years ago
Mexico on Thursday inoculated its first person against COVID-19, giving a shot of Pfizer vaccine to a 59-year-old nurse and kicking off a fightback from a pandemic that has killed more than 120,000 people in the country and battered the economy.
In a ceremony broadcast on national media and watched by the president, government officials directed the administration of the vaccine to Maria Irene Ramirez, head nurse at the intensive care unit of Mexico City’s Ruben Leñero hospital.
“This is the best gift that I could have received in 2020,” said Ramirez, adding that it would give her strength to continue the “war” against the pandemic.
Pfizer’s is the first COVID-19 vaccine to reach Mexico, which has also signed deals for vaccines from other firms.
The first shipment arrived on Wednesday and only contained 3,000 doses of the vaccine. The next one will contain 50,000 doses, with Mexico slated to receive 1.4 million units of the two-shot Pfizer vaccine by Jan. 31.
“And thus begins the road to the end of the pandemic,” Martha Delgado, a deputy foreign minister tasked with securing vaccine supplies for Mexico, said on Twitter.
The vaccination campaign begins as infections and deaths surge, putting hospitals under immense strain, and prompting fresh lockdowns in Mexico City and its urban sprawl last week.
A Stanford University-Mexico CIDE research group study found Mexico City could breach its hospital capacity in late December and peak in late January.
Over 1.35 million cases and 120,300 coronavirus deaths have been reported in Mexico, which has the fourth-highest official death toll from COVID-19 worldwide. The government acknowledges that the real figures are likely significantly higher.
The vaccine roll-out will prioritize Mexico’s medical staff. A September report by Amnesty International found Mexico had lost more healthcare workers to the virus than any other country.
Reporting by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Dave Graham and Mark Heinrich / REUTERS
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