MEXICO CITY (AP) – COVID-19 cases in Mexico remained at a very high level on Friday, and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador authorized state governors to purchase coronavirus vaccines on their own.
Authorities reported just over 21,000 confirmed cases in the last 24 hours, a day after the country recorded a record 22,339 cases. Deaths related to COVID-19 in the last day totaled 1,440, compared with a record 1,803 reported Thursday.
So far the government of Mexico has received approximately 750,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, of which almost 600,000 have been administered. The country has 750,000 medical workers who directly care for COVID-19 patients, which will require two doses; that is, 1.5 million injections.
That points to a long wait for Mexico’s 130 million people, and state governors and the private sector have been pressuring the federal government to allow them to purchase vaccines on their own. López Obrador said Friday that they will be allowed to do so, as long as they notify federal authorities and use only approved vaccines.
“So we are acquiring vaccines, but it would be mean to say to those who want to help that they are not allowed,” said López Obrador.
The Employers’ Confederation of the Mexican Republic received the decision with approval, and affirmed that “the goals considered in the national vaccination strategy can only be achieved with coordinated action between the federal government, state governments and private initiative.”
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