StemCell Therapy

Lauren Villagran, El Paso Times Published 3:30 p.m. MT May 24, 2021 | Updated 9:26 a.m. MT May 25, 2021

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

Chihuahua state health authorities began a second round of public vaccinations Monday in Jurez, inoculating people age 50 to 59 with a Pfizer shot.

Hundreds of people began lining up in cars or on foot at five vaccine distribution sitesbefore 7 a.m., including at a children's museum, baseball stadium, university campus and convention center.

State health authorities expected to apply about 30,000 first doses over four days.

Chihuahua Public Health nurse Lorena Vazquez administers COVID-19 vaccines to factory workers that were bused in to El Punto en el Chamizal during a vaccination drive for 50-to-59 year-olds on May 24, 2021.(Photo: Omar Ornelas/ El Paso Times)

Vaccines have been trickling into Jurez, as Mexico struggles to distribute the roughly 26 million doses it has secured on the global market.

More: 'The world's haves and have-nots': Global vaccine disparities on display at El Paso-Jurez border

Somemaquiladora factories sent workers to a drive-in vaccine site near the U.S.-Mexico border Monday. They arrived byruta,on the old school buses that serve as personnel transport in Jurez. Health care workers boarded the buses to administer the vaccine to the workers.

"We can't just live with the fear of this disease," said Csar Avalo Zamora, 53, who stood fifth in line, in glaring sun,to receive his first doseof the vaccine at the Indios stadium in Jurez.

"It's also a civic duty," he said, "to prevent creating more contagion."

More: A year into border restrictions over COVID-19, still no public plan for reopening

Avalo Zamora said he was worried, though, about the Jurez seniors who received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine in early April. Second doses for those over age 60 haven't arrived in Jurez, nor have health authorities publicly announced a schedule for second shots.

"It's worrisome because they are the most vulnerable," he said.

Vehicles line up for COVID-19 vaccinations at El Punto en el Chamizal on May 24, 2021 as 50-to-59 year-olds receive the first dose in CIudad Juarez.(Photo: Omar Ornelas/ El Paso Times)

The state health authority is distributing the vaccine in alphabetic order. People in the designated age bracket with a last name beginning with A, B, C or D could show upMonday.

Wendyvila, deputy director of preventative medicine for the state health department, described the logistics of the distribution as "extraordinary" in a statement. Wait times were averaging 10 to 15 minutes on Monday.

"Thanks to everyone, the fact that people are respecting their time slots means that the wait time is short and the logistics are extraordinary," she said in the statement.

Remaining first doses of the Pfizer vaccine would be available on Friday to pregnant women over 18 in their ninth month of gestation, health authorities said.

Lauren Villagran can be reached at lvillagran@elpasotimes.com.

Read or Share this story: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2021/05/24/covid-19-vaccine-juarez-health-authorities-begin-pfizer-shot-residents/7416780002/

Go here to see the original:
Residents line up in Juarez to receive second round of COVID-19 vaccine - El Paso Times

This entry was posted on May 27, 2021 at 1:48 am and is filed under Preventative Medicine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |