Cancun, Q. R. — UPDATED: While some Quintana Roo municipalities have received additional vaccines, many are still waiting. The message came from Governor Carlos Joaquin Thursday, who issued an energetic concern with the Federal Secretariat of Health since the state was left off the latest distribution list for vaccines.
Governor Joaquin noted that a new load has just arrived in Mexico and that the state of Quintana Roo has yet to receive any vials. “I think it is very serious that the vaccination program does not have an answer for Quintana Roo and that is the reason for my energetic protest of the situation.”
While some municipalities have vaccinated the elderly, in cities such as Playa del Carmen and Tulum, that group continues to wait. Salvador Varilla Hernández, Director of Municipal Health for Tulum says they are still waiting for the arrival of the batch of Covid vaccines meant for the elderly.
He explained that the Secretariat of the Navy and the State Secretariat of Health are in charge of its distribution and municipal authorities do not participate directly, pointing out that in some municipalities, immunization is already being carried out.
“The protocols and logistics of this follow-up of vaccinations to vulnerable groups is in the hands of SEDENA and the State Secretariat of Health, likewise, this vaccination strategy in the municipality of Tulum is also in the charge of SEDENA and the State Secretary of Health,” he explained.
However, Playa del Carmen mayor Laura Beristain Navarrete says the municipality of Solidaridad will likely be the next to vaccinate its older adults. The Solidaridad government reported that it will be the next municipality where vaccines exclusively for adults over 60 years of age, will be administered.
The PDC government also said that it will be the federal and state authorities who will determine the dates, times and methodology for the applications. The general secretary of PDC City Council, Alfredo Paz Cetina along with the director of Physical and Mental Health, Héctor González Rodríguez, both say that the vaccination program is not being carried out in Playa del Carmen at this time.
González Rodríguez says that once the PDC campaign begins, it is expected to provide approximately 3,200 doses per day, from 8 :00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. People who meet the age requirement must present themselves with official identification and proof of address, regardless of whether or not they registered online.
On March 2, 852,150 Pfizer vaccines arrived in Mexico City, none of which were distributed to Quintana Roo. Carlos Joaquin says he intends to take the matter up with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who is due to visit the state today.
Access to the vaccine is free for all older adults.
UPDATE: During his visit today in Cancun, Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that 10,000 vaccines will arrive in Quintana Roo next week. He did not give an exact date for their arrival, but did say “there will be no shortage of vaccines, 10,000 vaccines will arrive next week. We will guarantee that they arrive,” adding that “we are not ruling out that Quintana Roo education workers can be protected (with the vaccine) to return to school,” in reference to the possibility of the return of face-to-face classes, something Campache has accomplished.