MEXICAN YOUTHS VACCINATED IN SAN DIEGO IN CROSS-BORDER EFFORT
Shots for young people not yet available in Baja
Nearly 150 young people from Baja California arrived Thursday at the Mexican Consulate in San Diego to receive their first COVID-19 vaccine dose.
The effort is part of a cross-border pilot project that began earlier this month to expand access to the vaccine in the San DiegoTijuana region.
“Health has no borders, and we know the interdependence we have in our region, and for me, it is very important that everything possible is done to make sure our young people are protected,” said Supervisor Nora Vargas, during the program’s launching ceremony at the Tijuana Cultural Center (Cecut).
The young people, ranging from 12 to 18, were taken
buses from Tijuana to the Mexican Consulate in Little Italy to receive Pfizer doses that were donated by the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency.
“We live and work on both sides of the border,” said Barbara Jiménez, community operations officer with the agency. “We are focused on the health of our entire bina
tional region.”
A first group received shots Nov. 4; a third group is scheduled to be vaccinated Dec. 2. The goal is to vaccinate about 450 kids from Baja California.
The children were chosen by a coalition of nonprofits, such as the Boys & Girls Club of Tijuana, Tijuana Innovadora and other organizations. All of them had tourby ist visas and were vetted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Aimé Giles accompanied her daughter and nephew. “Maybe we could have gotten the shot in our country, but it would have taken longer,” she said.
Her nephew, Diego Hurtado, 14, said he was grateful for the opportunity to be vaccinated, given that vaccination is not yet open to people his age in Mexico. “It’s a privilege, because back home we would like to get vaccinated. Now we feel safer leaving the house.”
He added that he now feels more comfortable about visiting his grandparents and uncles.
The group will return in three weeks for the second shot.
While vaccinations in San Diego County are open for children over 5 years, Baja California is preparing to start vaccination for minors between the ages of 15-17 on Monday.
Carlos González Gutiérrez, consul general of
Mexico in San Diego, said he hopes that efforts such as the cross-border program will help close the vaccination gap on both sides of the border. “In Mexico, there is still a group lagging, especially those under 18 years of age. We greatly appreciate this donation by the county that allows us to bring young people to be vaccinated at the consulate.”
Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero also praised the support from their neighbors and hoped that soon, the vaccination plan in Mexico will be expanded to include kids and teenagers.
This is the second crossborder vaccination program of its kind at the San DiegoTijuana border. In May, a similar effort was conducted during which nearly 26,000 maquiladora workers were vaccinated at the San Ysidro border crossing.
With the recent reopening of the U.S.-Mexico land border to nonessential travel, there have also been parents who have crossed the border to vaccinate their children on their own.
Elsy Lopez, a Tijuana resident, did so as soon as she had the opportunity. She said her biggest fear was that vaccines for children in Mexico would have taken longer, and her child would return to school unvaccinated.
“It was my priority to cross and vaccinate him,” she said. “I didn’t hesitate for a moment.”
Lopez said her 10-yearold son was constantly asking her about when it would be his turn to be vaccinated. He was the only one in her family who had yet to be vaccinated.
Baja California’s secretary of health, José Adrián Medina, said he understands why parents are crossing the border to get their children vaccinated.
“I would do it for my children too if I didn’t have access to the vaccine,” he said, noting that Mexico must continue to work to advance its own vaccination plan.