Mexico, without vaccines for minors against covid-19

Although Mexico has already endorsed the use of the Pfizer vaccine for children between 5 and 11 years old against covid-19, it does not have the biological supply to start immunizing more than 11 million children in this population group. The director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Jarbas Barbosa, reported this Wednesday that Mexico is not on the list of countries that this year will receive pediatric vaccines from Pfizer through the Covax mechanism. The Undersecretary of Health, Hugo López-Gatell He has assured that all alternatives for minors are being evaluated, from direct purchase with the pharmaceutical company to the authorization of the Cuban Abdala vaccine.

For this year, the Covax mechanism It only offers Pfizer pediatric vaccines against covid-19 to the countries to which it provides support, which are 10, and Mexico is not among them as it is a self-financing nation, reported Jarbas Barbosa, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). ). “Carrying out a new commercial agreement between Mexico and Covax would be the ideal option so that Pfizer’s pediatric vaccines against covid-19 arrive in the coming months and a vaccination campaign for children can be carried out,” said Barbosa.

“I think that Mexico’s intention to also vaccinate adolescents and children is important, because after the strategy of vaccinating older adults and all people is completed, children should definitely start. And it is very important to use the possibility of more licensed vaccines for girls and boys,” she added. The manager added that the country only needs to receive 15 million vaccines from AztraZeneca through the Covax mechanism. To date, through this scheme, more than 24 million doses against the virus have been distributed to Mexico.

Undersecretary Hugo López-Gatell declared on Tuesday that they consulted with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer if they could supply them with doses for children between 5 and 11 years of age –because specific quantities of the biological are required for this age group– to which the company has answered that it is possible after the conclusion of a contract from the second half of 2022.

In addition, the official added, the possibility of authorizing the Abdala vaccine of Cuban origin is being explored, both in adults and children. “Cuba has reached coverage above 96% of its entire population, they include children from the age of two. At this time we are not considering two to five years, only 5 to 11, but the Abdala vaccine could be an excellent option”, he concluded. Regarding the use of the Abdala vaccine, Barbosa mentioned that it still does not have emergency use authorization from the WHO, but the process is already being worked on.

Andreu Comas, doctor and academic at the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí (UASLP), warns that the biological Sinovac only demonstrated 38% effectiveness in minors, while the dose of the Abdala vaccine was not in minors. As for Pfizer, the researcher predicts that direct negotiations with the pharmaceutical company will take at least two to four months. “The safest thing is that there will be no Pfizer vaccine, so the authorities will try to justify the use of Abdala or Sinovac,” Comas predicts.

The Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) authorized the Pfizer vaccine against covid-19 for children over 5 years of age since last March, however, the federal government has not included these minors in its National Plan of Vaccination. Groups of parents have emphasized the need to protect minors with the vaccine to achieve herd immunity and prevent deaths or injuries in children and adolescents.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the vaccination of minors has not been a priority for the federal government, considering that they are not a population at risk. As of April 17, Mexico accumulates 97,177 minors infected with coronavirus and 957 deaths due to the disease. 55% of the confirmed cases were registered in children between 12 and 17 years old, 25% in children between 6 and 11 years old and the rest in children between 0 and 5 years old, according to government figures.

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