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Chetumal minor wins court battle to receive covid-19 vaccine

Chetumal, Q.R. — A minor has “won” the right to be vaccinated against Covid-19 after his father filed an appeal. A Chetumal judge agreed to allow the minor boy to receive the Pfizer vaccine despite the fact that only adults aged 18 and over are being included in the national vaccination plan.

The ruling was made after an appeal was presented before a federal court September 3.

“Last Friday, the federal judge ordered authorities involved, in this case the delegate of the Ministry of Welfare and the Secretary of Health, both from the state of Quintana Roo, to take the sanitary measures to apply the lower of the corresponding doses of Pfizer’s preventive vaccine against COVID-19,” reported the family’s lawyer.

He said the only court condition for the minor boy to receive the vaccine was that he be evaluated first to rule out any health or physical disability. “We hope that during the course of this week, the child will be called by the health authority and given the vaccine,” he added.

He says that in June, the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) authorized the use of the Pfizer vaccine in minors 12 years of age and over, however, they continue to be excluded from the national immunization campaign.

“The mere fact (of exclusion) constitutes an act of discrimination and violation of the human right to health as established in Article Four of the Federal Constitution and in various international treaties signed and ratified by the Mexican state,” he said.

Two minors in Cancun are also seeking legal means to receive the vaccine.