Mexico, Chile and Costa Rica began administering the first Covid-19 vaccines in Latin America on Thursday, as the region most affected by the disease seeks relief from the pandemic.
The first injection was broadcast live from a Mexican hospital and shown during President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s daily press briefing. It was administered to the head of health care at an intensive care unit at Mexico City General Hospital. In Chile, the government selected five health workers for vaccination, which was also televised. Costa Rica also began its vaccination campaign on Thursday. All three apply Photos Pfizer Inc.
Vaccine arrivals provide a glimpse of the hope in a particularly devastated region of the virus. Brazil has the second highest number of deaths in the world due to the virus, with Mexico lagging almost fourth. The mortality rate in Mexico is also one of the highest in the world. Hospital occupancy in Mexico City has reached 85% and a study says that health services could be overwhelmed soon.
“Mexico is the first country in Latin America to have this vaccine,” the Mexican president said in a press release. “Pfizer is fulfilling its commitment.”
Push vaccine
The economies of Chile and Mexico will benefit from comprehensive vaccine coverage
Source: Bloomberg
Virus tracking: global cases 78.8 million; Death 1.73 million
The Mexican government plans to vaccinate nearly 3,000 people on Thursday in what authorities call a trial. Pfizer is expected to deliver 50,000 doses to Mexico next week.
In Chile, a plane arrived on Thursday morning with the first 10,000 doses in the country. During a press conference, President Sebastian Pinera said that the country aims to vaccinate most medical staff and at-risk citizens – about 5 million people – in the first quarter of 2021.
A nurse receives the coronavirus vaccine at the Metropolitan Hospital in Santiago, Chile, on December 24.
Source: Chilean Ministry of Health / Getty Images
Brazil, the Latin American country with the highest number of Covid-19 cases, lagged behind in the region’s race to inoculate the population. The effort to obtain injections has been blocked by political struggles and the chronological failures of the locally produced Coronavac vaccine.
The oldest date published so far for vaccinations in Latin America’s largest economy is January 25, only for the state of Sao Paulo. The country’s Supreme Court has also ruled that Brazilians can be allowed to take the vaccine.
Read more: Brazil’s Supreme Court rules against Covid Anti-Vaxxers
While Latin American nations lagged behind developed countries in their vaccine launch programs – the US has already administered over a million doses – Mexico and Chile have provided more doses of the virus than anyone else in the region.
300,000 doses of Russian Sputnik V vaccine arrived in Argentina on Thursday. President Alberto Fernandez thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin in a post on social media on Thursday afternoon for his “commitment” to Argentina and said the transport would begin the largest vaccination campaign in the nation’s history.
– With the assistance of Valentina Fuentes and Michael D McDonald
(Updates with details on Argentina’s vaccination plans in the last paragraph.)