Mexico, Chile and Costa Rica have become the first countries in Latin America to start vaccinating their populations against the coronavirus. The vaccination launch in Mexico was broadcast live during President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s morning press conference Thursday (local time). The head nurse of the intensive care unit of Rubén Leñero Hospital in Mexico City was the first Latin American woman to receive the Corona vaccination, as reported by El Universal newspaper.
María Irene Ramírez is one of the frontline health workers treating patients related to Covid-19. “This is the best gift I could have received in 2020,” said the 59-year-old, who volunteered to be vaccinated. “Sure we’re scared, but we have to keep going … And I want to stay in the line of fire,” she said.
Shortly after Ramírez, Zulema Riquelme received her first vaccination in Chile. “So that all people may vaccinate themselves,” the Chilean newspaper “La Tercera” quoted Riquelme, who works at the “Hospital Metropolitano” in Santiago de Chile. In Costa Rica, 91-year-old Elizabeth Castillo, who lives in a nursing home in Tres Ríos in Cartago province, was the first citizen to receive the vaccination.
All three countries used the vaccine from the companies Biontech and Pfizer. The first shipment of the vaccine had arrived in Mexico from Belgium on Wednesday. According to media reports, it came from Pfizer’s production plant in Puurs, from where the vaccine for Germany will also be delivered.
Mexican President López Obrador has so far been driving a contradictory Corona strategy. For example, Mexicans have been asked to stay at home – and most recently to refrain from Christmas celebrations. But restrictions were rejected by the left-wing populist, similar to Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro.
In Mexico, which ranks tenth among the most populous countries with nearly 130 million people, at least 120,000 corona-related deaths have been recorded so far, according to official figures – the fourth highest number in the world. Brazil’s Ministry of Health reported 58,428 new infections on Christmas Eve. This brings the total number of infections in Brazil to 7.423 million. The number of deaths increased by 762 to 189,982 within 24 hours. Brazil has the most infections and deaths in the world in the coronavirus pandemic after the United States.
hp, Source: APA, Picture: pixabay.com
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