COVID-19: Seniors in Mexico City get inoculated

Mexican health authorities on Wednesday started immunization of senior citizens with the Russian COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, in the marginalized areas of capital Mexico City.

People over 60 years of age started receiving the vaccine in mid-February, but a slow supply of vaccine doses from different manufacturers had delayed the process. So far, only one percent of the population has received the vaccine.

With most health workers inoculated, the Mexican vaccination plan aims to have completed the first dose of the vaccines for the elderly by the end of April.

People waiting in a queue to obtain their vaccine were pleased with the speed and attention they received.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the strategy will be completed using vaccines from different manufacturers to reduce mortality by 80 percent.

The Mexican government said that it made contracts for 232 million vaccines for a population of over 130 million from a myriad of pharmaceutical companies.

Late Monday, the country received its first shipment of 200,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccines after the national health regulator gave an emergency approval in January.

Authorities said the government signed a contract to bring 400,000 doses of this vaccine to Mexico. Still, it is unclear when the next shipment of Sputnik V would arrive.

Mexico has had over 2 million test-confirmed coronavirus cases, but the low level of testing means the real number is probably higher.