By THE PULSE NEWS MEXICO STAFF

As of Friday, Nov. 19, all Mexican minors between the ages of 15 and 17 will be eligible to receive vaccinations against covid-19, the country’s covid czar, the Public Health Secretariat’s Undersecretary of Prevention and Health Promotion Hugo López-Gatell, said Tuesday, Nov. 16.

Up until now, only high-risk minors and those with compromising pre-existing health conditions were eligible for the vaccines.

“We will soon open the vaccinations up to 15 to 17 years, even those without comorbidities,” López-Gatell said during the morning press conference of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The public health official said that the reason for this decision was the fact that mortality among this age group is higher than among those of lower ages.

“Between minors ages 10 and 14, the mortality rate is very low,” he said.

“But after 15 years of age, there is an increase in mortality, although it is still low. Mortality increases as age increases.”

Countless parents in Mexico have protested and resorted to legal injunctions to demand that the government vaccinate their children, although the government has repeatedly maintained that covid-19 does not pose a significant risk to minors.

But as of last month, more than 62,000 Mexican minors have contracted the disease and at least 600 have died from it.

López-Gatell said that on Friday, Nov. 19, preregistration will be opened for minors to go to vaccination centers.

“It is important to preregister,” he said.

“We will soon open the vaccination centers in all Mexico’s states.”