A woman receives a dose of the Sputnik-V vaccine in Mexico City on July 23. Graciela López / CUARTOSCURO
The third wave of covid infections triggers cases, but causes fewer deaths.
That is the statistical profile that health authorities have painted of the current phase of the pandemic in Mexico.
The most positive aspect is that fatality, the percentage of people who die after falling ill with coronavirus, has plummeted to 1.9%, compared to the maximum of 22% that was reached in the first months of the health crisis .
The turning point, according to the Ministry of Health, has been vaccination.
"Blessed vaccine ... It was had in a relatively short time and it is what has allowed us to face this pandemic, avoiding greater misfortunes," said the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in his press conference this Tuesday.
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"The probability that sick people end up in serious condition or end up needing hospitalization or that they die has been substantially reduced," said Hugo López-Gatell, Undersecretary of Health.
The latest government presentation on the advance of the virus is probably the one that most clearly exposes the positive impact of vaccination and, on the other hand, how urgent it is to advance in the coverage of immunized people.
Mexico has already applied more than 60.8 million doses, but only 24 million inhabitants have received a complete scheme, that is, they are fully protected, according to the latest update presented by the health authorities.
Covid-19 fatality data from Mexico by epidemiological week GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO
The latest epidemic peak has left an accumulated 74,774 people with coronavirus in official figures, 34% more than at the peak of the health crisis, when there was a peak of 54,626 cases. The rebound is still less than the maximum that was recorded during the second wave, when there were more than 112,000 infections. But the cases keep increasing.
The latest rebound has as its main protagonist the Delta variant, whose impact is also reflected in the graphs produced by the Government: there are more cases in less time.
The evidence on the virulence of this version of the virus is irrefutable, but the data presented also gives hope about the effectiveness of the Delta vaccines, an issue that remains under scrutiny by the scientific community as drug companies release studies on how effective your drugs are or if their protection capacity is significantly reduced.
The results for Mexico are encouraging.
Deaths have dropped by as much as 87% compared to the wave of infections recorded earlier this year.
Deaths from covid-19 in Mexico by epidemiological week GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO
Vaccination has completely changed the face of the previously known pandemic. In addition to the strengthening of Delta as the predominant variant in Mexico and in the world, a collateral effect of vaccination is that the demographic profile of covid patients has been transformed. Young people and people who have not been vaccinated are now one of the main sources of concern.
What does this transformation look like? The actuary and mathematician Arturo Erdely estimates that in January, adults over 60 years of age accounted for 55% of hospitalizations due to covid, that is, of severe cases. That percentage has fallen in the last month to 28%, because it was the first age group to be vaccinated. In contrast, people between 30 and 44 years old represented only 12% of hospitalized patients in the country, but lately they already exceed 30%, a similar figure for the cohort that goes from 45 to 59 years . "This rebound is catching us badly," says the academic from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in an interview."Vaccination is a solution especially for the medium and long term because the latest wave of infections is already here and there are some 84 million people who have not been vaccinated and who will not be able to be vaccinated in the coming weeks," he warns.
Official cases of covid-19 in Mexico by epidemiological week GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO
The authorities of Mexico City, the most densely populated area and which has accumulated the highest number of cases and deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, have indicated that the population between 30 and 39 years of age is already virtually vaccinated with at least one doses and have begun this week to immunize the following age group: 18 to 29 years.
Despite the fact that the pace and coverage of vaccination in the capital has accelerated, it is still far from applying complete vaccination schedules, which is when vaccines offer the greatest protection against new variants of the virus.
Mexico accumulates 2.7 million confirmed cases and 238,595 deaths from covid-19, according to the official data board.
With a first cash cut of the third wave of infections, it remains to be seen how it will be able to cope with the maximum peak of infections, which specialists expect to arrive by mid-August, according to the available data.
A year and a half after the outbreak of the pandemic, the call of the experts and the authorities is not to lower our guard.
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