MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador reported Monday that the COVID-19 vaccine will not be administered because his doctors told him that he still has a high level of antibodies after contracting the disease in January.
“I have enough antibodies and it is not essential for now that I get vaccinated,” said López Obrador.
The 67-year-old president should have received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week, as it should be based on his current address in the center of the Mexican capital, where the National Palace where he lives is located.
The president has repeatedly said that he would wait his turn to be vaccinated and that he does not want it to become a “show.”
At the end of March, López Obrador said he would be vaccinated when the population aged 60 and over in the neighborhoods of downtown Mexico City received their first doses.
However, he noted that a second group of doctors he consulted told him it was not necessary, although he did not rule out receiving what for most older adults will be their second dose in June.
Meanwhile, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said it could be “a setup.”
So far, Mexico has received 14.7 million doses of various brands of vaccines, and has applied about 9 million. That is still a low number when you consider that the country has approximately 126 million inhabitants.
López Obrador was criticized in the early stages of the pandemic for not expressing the seriousness of the situation. He has consistently refused to push for more drastic lockdowns imposed in other countries, calling such tactics “authoritarian.”
The country registers more than 204,000 deaths from COVID-19 confirmed by tests, although the government considers that the real number of deaths from coronavirus is almost 324,000.
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