By: Gabriel Guerra Castellanos.
February 17, 2021.
Finally, in record time and after an endless wait, because yes, both things can happen simultaneously, the vaccination process of the general population has begun in Mexico, according to the criteria of age and place of residence that the authorities determined. previously.
A lot has already been said about which vaccines were finally authorized and acquired, and I am not going to put myself here to want to compete with those who do know about these matters. Suffice it to say that those that will be applied in Mexico comply with regulations, do not report negative effects and have very acceptable effectiveness rates. There are two very important things: the first and fundamental is that the vaccine does not cause damage to the inoculated population, and the second is that it manages to stop and reverse the growth of the pandemic.
The national vaccination strategy is also defined, in principle. I say in principle because the logistical challenges are enormous and the epidemiological priorities are subjective and changing. For now, it has been decided to prioritize isolated areas, with higher rates of poverty, isolation and/or lack of hospital infrastructure or health services. Controversy immediately arose: why not start with large urban concentrations? Why give preference to where the virus has not reached? Why start with the poor? And don't laugh, dear reader, there were those who asked that last word more or less.
One may or may not agree with such strategy and prioritization, but at least they exist. And it is that what had been observed until this Sunday was a series of occurrences (including the disaster of the launch of the registration page) and an evident disconnection between the areas of acquisitions and supply, so to speak SHCP and SRE, and the nominally responsible for the application of the vaccines, for the operation of the program, the Ministry of Health. I'm not saying that all the complications have been ironed out, but at least the procedure has begun to flow, with hitches and delays that don't surprise me too much either.
I write these lines at the end of the second day of vaccination. The first day was full of chronicles and reviews of people who attended. Many complaints about long lines, delays and logistical failures, but also many expressions of satisfaction, of tranquility, of recognition of the public servants who make up the vaccination brigades. Of course, the matter became politicized in less than a puncture: unsubstantiated criticism and accusations from some, furious reactions from others to such claims, getting into an opinion about it was, is, a high-risk activity.
I'm a little tired of so much politics, dear readers. Neither does it seem to me an act of lese majesty to criticize or point out errors, nor does it seem to me that there is anything wrong with recognizing good news when it exists.
And the reality is that with or without long lines, with or without complications, the start of mass vaccination is very good news for millions of Mexicans who urgently need to break the shell of their isolation. For all of them, for all of them, my congratulations: they deserve it, we deserve it.