“There is no strategy or leader”: Mexico started vaccination first but is now eighth in Latin America

Experts assure that vaccination in Mexico is very slow, but joining the efforts of society, private initiative and the government would help vaccinate as many people as possible in the shortest time possible.

December 24, 2020, became a historic day for Mexico: it had finally started the vaccination against COVID-19 in the country, being the first in Latin America to receive vaccines and one of the first in the world to start vaccination. vaccination.

From that moment, the National Vaccination Plan was launched, consisting of five stages with which Mexico intends to take a maximum of one year and three months (December 2020-March 2022) to vaccinate its entire population against the SARS-CoV virus -two.

However, experts already predict that this objective will not be met in the indicated time, despite the plans and the speed with which Mexico obtained the first vaccines because currently, the country “is not doing well at all.”

“ We do not have a vaccination structure. Everyone says ‘strategy and strategy’, but the word is misused. It is not a strategy and we do not have one because there is no leader. There is no person responsible for the vaccination program. What has come out is a program in which we have the firm and very good intentions to vaccinate many people in a short time, but which has not materialized due to several things, “said the analyst and health policy advisor, Xavier Tello, in an interview with Infobae México.

(Photo: Reuters / Carlos Jasso)

The surgeon from the National Autonomous University of Mexico ( UNAM ) considered that although it is established that Andrés Manuel López Obrador is the head of the vaccination brigades, he cannot bear the responsibility of vaccinating the entire Mexican population; neither does Hugo López-Gatell, undersecretary of federal health, since “he already has three jobs, including being the czar of the pandemic ”; nor Marcelo Ebrard, Foreign Minister, who “is getting vaccines even below the stones. So who is it? There isn’t.

Mexico, from privilege to lag

Mexico has lagged behind the last places in the advancement of vaccination on the continent, because while it applies 2.71 doses per 100 people, Chile leads the ranking with 29.93; They are followed in descending order: the United States, which puts 28.62; Canada, 6.95; Brazil, 5.53; the Dominican Republic, 5.04; Panama, 4.97; Uruguay, 4.25; Costa Rica, 4.02; and Argentina, 3.93, according to the March 10 update of One World in Data.

Below Mexico are only Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela with 1.29, 1.09, 0.71,0.43 and 0.04 applications per 100 people, respectively, according to the Oxford University platform.

The specialist affirmed that the country is in such a situation not because there are no vaccines, but because they arrive gradually and when they arrive, they apply them very slowly, derived from the fact that the authorities never planned how to vaccinate and are improvising, although they assure the opposite and that “we are making progress”.

(Graphic: ourworldindata.org)

“The vaccines are here, let’s start vaccinating “

On the other hand, on December 28, the COVID-19 Vaccination Technical Advisory Group published the document Initial and consecutive prioritization for vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in the Mexican population. Preliminary recommendations, in which the priority groups to vaccinate are established, as well as the first recommendations on the types of vaccines to be used; however, it does not explain how, why, or where they will be applied.

“When you take it to the final tactic, you face the big problems that we have now. The vaccines are already there, let’s see, put them on. That is the great disaster we had with the start, those famous vaccination centers with long lines of people under the sun waiting their turn to be vaccinated, “said the specialist.

The final tactical plan for vaccination was established until the fourth version of the National Vaccination Policy, released on January 11. This document already mentions the formation of 10,000 “Roadrunner Brigades”, consisting of twelve people, of which only two apply vaccines, while four or six are “Servants of the Nation.”

In addition, the expert on the Mexican health system questioned the criteria that the Mexican government established as a priority for the application of the vaccine and compared the path followed by the United States, a nation that is currently vaccinating all those over 60 years of age. and those who suffer from comorbidities – regardless of their age – because they are the most vulnerable groups.

(Photo: Twitter / @ GobCDMX)

In contrast, it should be remembered that the Mexican plan considers that the first to receive the vaccine are the doctors who face COVID-19; second, people over 60 years of age; it is followed by people with comorbidities; the teaching staff of the Federal Entities in a green epidemiological traffic light and finally, the rest of the population (over 16 years old).

The analyst criticized that there are vulnerable people who are not included in the first groups, such as people with HIV / AIDS or with potentially dangerous comorbidities that “should be as or more important than many older adults and are not being included right now.” He even mentioned that the groups of doctors who work in hospitals and private clinics have been ignored, sometimes giving preference to teachers and other government collaborators.

“All that was not taken into account. There was no strategy, there was a recommendation and that is why we are falling behind, ”Tello reiterated.

Forecast

The government of Mexico plans to vaccinate its 126 million inhabitants against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, with biologics that mostly require two doses. However, Tello assured that there will be no way to comply with the indicated schedule if it is not that 250,000 people are vaccinated every day, because “only in this way are we going to get to the numbers.”

(Photo: Elizabeth Ruiz / Cuartoscuro)

On February 25, the Secretary of Finance and Public Credit, Arturo Herrera, estimated that by June 2021, at least 80 million Mexicans will be vaccinated against COVID-19, while by April around 34 million will have been vaccinated. people, more than all adults over 60 years of age.

“If what you want is to vaccinate all of Mexico before the end of the year, you need to apply about 520,000 to 550,000 daily doses , today that is not being done. If everything worked out well, I think we would have the population over 40 years of age to be vaccinated at 70% perhaps at the end of the fall, not before because I don’t see that they are taking steps to make that happen ”.

During yesterday’s technical report, López-Gatell asserted that it is feasible that around 500,000 vaccines can be applied per day, as the arrival of biologicals increases. If it maintains that rhythm, Mexico would raise its vaccination curve.

The latest calendar presented by the Ministry of Health and the Foreign Ministry, updated on February 24, said that by the end of this month, Mexico should have accumulated just under 27 million doses received. So far, only just under 5,500,000 have arrived.

(Photo: EFE / Sáshenka Gutiérrez)

“Something very extraordinary has to happen for Mexico to start accelerating. We are administering 45,000 a day on average, well, we need to apply more than 250,000 daily in the first phase and 520,000 every day of the year. I don’t see how they are going to do it, ” insisted the surgeon.

Until the cutoff of March 11 at 4:00 p.m., Mexico has applied an accumulated 3,779,969 doses of vaccine against the virus.

The health policy specialist confirmed that as long as the course of the current vaccination program is not changed, this campaign could become one of the largest failures in health in the history of the country, for which he recommended some measures To give the current plan a twist:

First, appoint a leader. The general health council has to take charge and appoint a director of the vaccination program, who has enough power to reduce between various public institutions and negotiate with the governors of all entities.

“In addition, this true vaccination strategy has to consider the participation of the state, the private sector and non-governmental organizations, in order to vaccinate as many people as possible in the shortest time possible.”

“You need to slap and do a general reboot of the program. If we do not do it like that, there will be no way, it will not be possible ”.

Source: infobae.com

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