TIJUANA- The lack of vaccines against chickenpox is a latent concern in the face of an outbreak registered in migrant minors inside the Agape shelter in Tijuana.
In Mexico, according to the Ministry of Health, there are no vaccines for this condition, since it is not part of the basic vaccination scheme.
Families fear that due to this disease they could also lose the appointment they so long for to be able to request political asylum, for which reason this Thursday they protested at the facilities of the United States consulate in Tijuana.
With a firm step and banners in hand, families of migrants from the shelter again came out to protest, this Thursday. Well, they affirmed that they are concerned about the recent infections of chickenpox.
While they wait to get an appointment through CBP and achieve the “American dream”, an outbreak of chicken pox prevails in the Ágape shelter, located in the Nueva Aurora Sur neighborhood.
“Because there are children who are sick with chickenpox, they are getting it and we need the vaccines, there are no vaccines, they are not vaccinating our children and obviously the vaccine is very important for their prevention of chickenpox,” Lucero Rodríguez, a migrant, told TELEMUNDO 20. from the state of Mexico.
For this reason, Lucero and her little Diego shouted at the top of their lungs asking for those vaccines that will prevent more children like him from being infected and must remain in isolation for 21 days as a precautionary measure according to the health authorities.
“They kept us isolated, I couldn’t go out at all, they just brought me food,” said little Diego.
Albert Rivera, pastor of the Alberge Ágape, pointed out that the United States government made a donation of vaccines that would be destined for the shelters and that have not yet reached their destination.
“If a child has chickenpox and has an appointment, they will not let him cross into the United States because that is contagious, it is also the concern of the parents. And what about these 2,000 vaccines from the United States stuck in customs, I don’t know how long they are stuck, but we don’t want them to continue sitting there when the children need it to be vaccinated, ”he highlighted.
The Secretary of Health in Baja California confirmed to TELEMUNDO 20 that a batch of 500 vaccines donated by the United States government to the health jurisdiction is currently awaiting to be applied in these places. Therefore, they asked Cofepris to speed up the corresponding process so that the vaccines can reach their destination as soon as possible. Well, they fear that due to this epidemiological situation they may lose the few appointments they manage to access on the CBP One platform.
The migrants also denounced irregularities in the system since they only manage to access three appointments a month in this shelter.
“And the appointments are not falling as we would like, that is why we have come to do an exhaustive investigation and help us get the appointments for the Ágape shelter because they are not dating,” Rodríguez added.
So with this protest they hope that their voices will be heard.
“Well, I hope so, and if they listen to us, they will do us a favor and a miracle with the faith of God,” said Nancy Ríos, a migrant from Guerrero.
According to the pastor, there have been approximately 40 minors who have been infected with chickenpox in Agape, however, according to the figure of the health secretary, after going to the site, there are only 9 confirmed cases.
The doctors affirmed that these are cases that are in their last stage of evolution, so any emergency was ruled out. Currently there are two migrant shelters where positive cases of chickenpox have been found in Tijuana.
2023-08-25 06:53:55
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