Mexico City to accelerate vaccinations as COVID-19 infections surge

Mexico City's government will speed up COVID-19 vaccinations to its more than 9 million inhabitants starting from next week as infections and hospitalizations see a rise, mostly among younger people, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday.

The number of people in Mexico City hospitalized with COVID-19 rose by 650 from last week to 1,871.

Infections are hitting 18- to 39-year-olds, many of them unvaccinated.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Sheinbaum gave the green light for all residents over 30 years of age to get vaccinated anywhere in the city as of Tuesday.

Approximately 63 per cent of Mexico City residents have received at least one vaccine dose and 38.5 per cent have had the two doses.

Sheinbaum's government aims to have at least one dose given to 74 per cent of residents and to have 41 per cent fully vaccinated by July 26.

Meanwhile, authorities in the Mexican border state of Baja California say they will include migrants in the new COVID-19 vaccination plan for border cities, which is aimed at accelerating the reopening of the shared land border with the United States.

The state, which lies just across from California, began vaccinating adults over the age of 18 this week as part of a new mass vaccination push across northern Mexico, which relies on over a million Johnson & Johnson doses donated by the United States.

Baja California Health Secretary Alonso Óscar Pérez said on Friday that the agency has a plan to vaccinate migrants as part of this new border vaccination initiative. He added that the agency has allocated specific days for migrants, without providing additional details.

Despite the new surge, Sheinbaum said Mexico City was not planning to re-impose confinement measures or suspend activities.

(With inputs from agencies)