Photo: Healthline

By THE PULSE NEWS MEXICO STAFF

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) said Wednesday, April 13, that his administration will begin vaccinating children against covid-19 starting in May, as long as Mexico receives the needed vaccines from the Covax (United Nations Covid-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility) mechanism.

“We have paid in advance for a batch of vaccines from the UN Covax mechanism, and we are requesting that it send us vaccines for children, from authorized brands, to start vaccination minors with the appropriate vaccines,” the president said during his daily morning press conference.

“It will be given to all children who should be vaccinated, that is, in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO), with the corresponding vaccine, and its administration will be universal, that is, for everyone.”

Up until now, Mexico has only immunized minors 12 years and older with special risk factors.

But after the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization evaluated the application of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in children, the WHO recommended that countries apply it in the age group of five to 11 years.

The agency’s director of vaccines, Kate O’Brien, explained that during clinical trials there were no safety problems with the application of the vaccine in this age group, so experts recommended a dose of 10 micrograms, instead of the 30 that is offered to those over 12 years.

AMLO said that the Mexican government will begin vaccinating children  once a high vaccination coverage is achieved in high-risk populations, following the recommendations of the international health organization.