After long delaying COVID-19 vaccinations for most minors, the Mexican government says children under 15 will now be eligible for the jab.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said this week that his government plans to begin rolling out a vaccination program for minors as early as this month.
It will be the first time vaccines are widely available to children under 15 in the country. Until now, vaccines for kids have been limited to those who are considered high-risk because of underlying conditions or disabilities. Other families have sought injunctions through Mexican courts to get their children vaccinated. There have also been efforts to vaccinate children in Mexico in communities along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The country’s health regulator has given approval for vaccines to be administered to children as young as five. However, the announcement of a program to vaccinate children was short on details about when vaccinations will start or which children will be eligible.
The president has continued to insist that all adults should be fully vaccinated before shots become available to minors, which he said Wednesday will likely be this month. He also said the country is waiting for vaccine doses for children that have been promised by the World Health Organization’s COVAX program.
