Yesterday the Federal Ministry of Health published a directive in the Federal Official Gazette that establishes, as an extraordinary public health action, that the governments of the states and public and private entities of the National Health System may assist in the National Vaccination Policy against the SARS-CoV2 virus, through the direct acquisition of the vaccine with their own resources.
Among the requirements for complying are to: (i) present the vaccine purchase agreements signed with authorized pharmaceuticals in Mexico, (ii) report the number of doses purchased and applied, (iii) adhere to the schedule and priority by groups of persons according to the National Vaccination Policy and (iv) guarantee the traceability of the vaccination process and report on its monitoring.
Notwithstanding the laudable purpose of the directive, there are various legal problems that will hinder its application. In that regard, its content is insufficient to permit the state governments and the entities of the National Health System to directly import the vaccines, in addition to the fact that it subjects them to a National Vaccination Policy that was not published in the Federal Official Gazette but on a website whose content is ambiguous, incomplete and subject to constant modifications.
In any case, and as the public knows, the possibility of acquiring vaccines against the SARS-CoV2 virus in the short term is virtually zero given the enormous demand by the world community which has meant that the production of the pharmaceuticals has been committed up to the end of 2020 or beginning of 2021.
The complete text of the directive can be found at this link.
To obtain additional information, contact our experts:
Luis Miguel Jiménez, Partner: +52 (55) 5258 1058, lmjimenez@vwys.com.mx
Javier Lizardi, Partner: +52 (55) 5258 1021, jlizardi@vwys.com.mx
María de Lourdes Salazar y Vera, Associate: +52 (55) 5258 1058, mlsalazar@vwys.com.mx
Cinthya González, Associate: +52 (55) 5258 1021, cgonzalez@vwys.com.mx