On November 11, 2021 in press release 494, “The SSa reports that 75 million 260,370 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19. Of these, 83%, that is, 62 million 881,897 has a complete scheme, and 12 million 378,473 have at least one dose, which represents 17% … ”.
But what is being informed to Mexican society by presenting a division within the universe of vaccinated?
It is not the same to say that of the 89 million people over 17 years of age, 70% have a complete scheme; or that, of the 118 million Mexicans over 5 years of age, 53% have a complete scheme. All are arithmetic operations but the distance to go, if the desired 100% of the population is to be reached, which in theory should be covered, is short or long depending on which population is measured.
We really shouldn’t be distracted by telling the health authority which population to choose when building its indicators; for that it has experts and technical advisers. What we must ask or rather require are explanations about what is happening with the pandemic in Mexico. Two years have passed since the first case in China and it seems that it is time for the content and quality of the social communication that is being distributed to change.
The authority should not delegate to citizens the responsibility of finding their own explanations, trusting that the internet is full of data.
For example, on October 29 in Campeche, the health authority announced the achievement of a “coverage” goal. For this purpose, the official spokesperson used around 2,000 words; 53% of them were to thank and acknowledge the authorities who made this possible and 17% used them to refer to the actions that follow.
Days later, at the start of the 2nd National Public Health Day 2021, the same authority asked “not to confuse the goal achieved with the conclusion of the vaccination day, since there is still a need to apply a second dose and expand coverage to remote areas of the country” … And he added: “… the national vaccination policy has been modified seven times and will be updated as reality changes and based on scientific evidence. We do not exclude any possibility of change in the future and vaccination in girls, boys and adolescents could be considered…
I ask, who will be confused when it is known that there are still 27 million adults who do not have the second dose and almost 29 million children between 5 and 17 years who have not been vaccinated? In other words, it is necessary to complete the vaccination scheme in 56 million Mexican men and women and that should not be a cause of confusion for anyone.
Why not make the effort to speak more clearly and follow the example of President Lopez Obrador who said in Colima: “… I do not want to hear that there is a lack of medications and I do not want excuses of any kind …” Those words echo the thoughts of many parents families who no longer want to hear promises and possibilities; they want to know with more certainty when they will have access to vaccines for their children. Seeking certainty in the explanations of the authority is the least that citizens expect. But even to give explanations is needed job.
In Mexico, according to Conapo, 15.4 million children between 5 and 11 years old and 13.3 million adolescents between 12 and 17 years old live in Mexico. What type of vaccines can be given to them?
Of the vaccines on the market, only Pfizer BioTech has been accepted for use in children under 18 years of age. The dose of the vaccine licensed for youth ages 12 to 17 is identical to the dose given to adults: two 30-microgram doses given three weeks apart. The smallest kids will receive a third of the authorized dose for those over 12 years of age. Smaller needles are needed for this and they must be stored in smaller vials to avoid confusion with adult doses. Like the others, young children will need to return three weeks after the first dose for a second injection.
41 countries vaccinate children under 18 years of age
Currently in 41 countries vaccines against Covid-19 are being administered in children under 18 years of age. Although the majority have more than half of the population fully vaccinated, five have coverage less than that achieved by Mexico. Until now, only 10 countries have authorized the application of vaccines in children under 12 years of age.
In Latin America, they are authorized to vaccinate adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica and Ecuador; while in Chile, Cuba and El Salvador the decision covers children from 5 to 11 years old. In Mexico, a court order is needed for a child or adolescent to be vaccinated or to be very sick because the national health authority does not approve the scientific evidence that has been used in other countries.
Is it a safety and efficacy issue or is it an availability and distribution issue?
According to the report released by the Secretary of Health on November 15, since December 23, 2020, Mexico has received 118 million packaged vaccines and 47 million have been packaged in the national territory. In sum, 165 million doses have been made available. Of these 37.7 million are Pfizer BioTech. That is, a third of the packaged vaccines received are of the brand required to vaccinate those under 18 years of age. Given that the vaccination campaign seeks to complete the second dose of adults, there is no answer when the vaccines will be obtained for those under 18 years of age since it is definitive that the reserves will not be used for that purpose, unless the explanations with certainty start to flow.
They have changed the national vaccination policy seven times without warning; it has been announced that the disease will become an endemic infection. If that’s the case, instead of debating how to end the pandemic, we must debate how to live with it. In this sense, we must think, plan and accept that Covid-19 is an endemic human infection and that for the same reason it will not disappear from the planet in the coming years.
*The author is professor from the University of Washington’s Department of Health Measurement Sciences and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx