Mexico to start Covid-19 vaccinations as virus stretches hospitals

Mexico City - "It's true that we still face a tremendous pandemic, but today is the beginning of the end," Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said.

Mexico said it will begin inoculating health workers against Covid-19 on Thursday with the arrival of the first vaccines, as the government battles a sharp surge in infections that has pushed hospitals to their limits.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday vaccinations will begin at hospitals in Mexico City and the northern city of Saltillo, speaking before the first Pfizer vaccines were flown into the capital from Belgium.

"It's true that we still face a tremendous pandemic, but today is the beginning of the end," Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told a news conference at Mexico City's airport.

He did not specify how many doses arrived in the first batch amid Mexican media reports that it only contained 3,000. His ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Lopez Obrador said he wanted the vaccine to be used in additional areas as officials seek to reach workers at nearly 1,000 hospitals treating coronavirus patients nationwide. Senior citizens and people with chronic illnesses are due to be next.

Pfizer's is the first Covid-19 vaccine to reach Mexico, which has also signed deals for vaccines from other firms.

With hospital bed occupancy rates surging, Mexico has put the heavily populated capital and two states into semi-lockdowns to try to prevent the further spread of the virus, while urging residents to avoid holiday gatherings and socializing.

A recent study from researchers at Stanford University and Mexico's CIDE think tank found Mexico City could breach its hospital capacity in late December and peak in late January.

Last weekend, the Mexico City government sent out a text message saying hospitals were "at the limit."

"The little I had saved, I've already spent it all," she said.