Jorge Antonio Rocha and Corey Blackman
28 December 2021•Update: 29 December 2021
MEXICO CITY
Mexico has recorded 298,819 coronavirus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic, officials said Tuesday.
Officials confirmed more than 3.9 million cases.
With a successful vaccination campaign, authorities have been able to administer more than 148 million vaccines with 196 million doses delivered.
The effort, which has been able to curve the country’s grim mortality rate, has seen 89% of the population inoculated with at least one shot.
A total of 72 million Mexicans have been fully vaccinated and an additional 9.2 million have begun their vaccination rounds.
Once one of the deadliest places to be during the pandemic, Mexico has reported a noticeable decline in hospitalizations and deaths since the vaccination campaign took effect in April 2021.
Once oversaturated hospitals now report occupation of no more than 13% for coronavirus patients with 11% ventilator use.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez Gatell said Mexico has seen an overall reduction of 92% in hospitalizations nationwide from the most critical point in the pandemic last December.
Authorities have a positive outlook on the pandemic with booster shots being administered and eligible minors starting to get their first doses.
Regarding the omicron variant, with 42 cases reported as of Monday, Lopez Gatell said an "indisputable." a fourth wave will hit Mexico.
"We would see a large number of cases but in much less proportion of hospitalizations that we have had in previous waves, mainly due to the effect of vaccination," he said.
