Mexican Officials Say There’s No Reason To Restrict Border Travel Now That The US Has Donated 1.3 Million COVID-19 Vaccines

Mexican officials said there’s no reason to restrict border travel after the 1.35 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines received from the U.S. are administered, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccines donated by the U.S. will be available to adult Mexican citizens in border cities including Tijuana, Mexicali, Ciudad Juárez and Reynosa as early as Wednesday, according to the AP. Mexican officials aim to raise vaccination rates in border towns to match their U.S. counterparts and are looking for enough doses to cover every resident along the border.

“There will be no public health arguments for keeping the border closed” after the vaccines are administered, Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said while meeting with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the AP reported.

Non-essential travel has been restricted between the U.S. and Mexico since March 2020 and is expected to remain closed until at least June 21, according to Mexperience.

Mexican officials aim to focus on vaccinating residents over 40 using a combination of vaccines, the AP reported. Around 26 million doses have been administered, which covers around 30% of Mexican residents older than 18.

The country experienced an uptick in positive cases in December and January before reported cases began to decline, according to the AP. This week the national positive case numbers increased 8% because of reported cases in Yucatan and Quintana Roo, Mexican Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell said.

“There is a significant increase in case numbers” in the states and additional COVID-19 regulations were implemented in the region, López-Gatell said, the AP reported.

Mexico has donated 250,000 AstraZeneca vaccines to Belize, Bolivia and Paraguay, according to the AP.