Two men in their thirties managed to be vaccinated against covid-19 in Mexico City after disguising themselves as elderly people, but were discovered and are being held, authorities in the capital confirmed on Wednesday.
“In the case of these two young people who disguised themselves and received the vaccine as older adults, the two are being held with justified imprisonment,” Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum told a news conference.
The case took place two weeks ago at a vaccination site in the Navy, in the Coyoacán sector, where only people over 60 were inoculated, according to Cristina Cruz, a mayoral official.
Up to here came the men, aged 30 and 35, with their hair and eyebrows painted white, and wearing mouthpieces and plastic masks.
Both presented false identity documents and managed to receive the immunizer, but their plan came to a head when they were forced to speak to a maid destined for the vaccination plan.
“A colleague noticed the voice that did not match (with that of an elderly man), and that was when the authorities were called,” Creu, quoted by the UNOTV news portal, said.
Impostors are now facing charges of identity theft, the official added.
Vaccination in Mexico began on December 24 with health personnel facing the pandemic, and is currently focused on the elderly, with which the government hopes to reduce deaths by 80%.
The country has reported isolated cases of people being vaccinated in violation of the established schedule according to age criteria.
Sheinbaum said on Wednesday that in the capital such episodes have been scarce.
Government spokesman against the coronavirus strategy, Hugo López-Gatell, criticizes these behaviors, but has said that people who received the first dose irregularly will be able to access the second so as not to waste resources.
Denying the vaccine to these people “would involve exercising an act of justice with public health measures,” he noted after the case of an ophthalmologist who illegally accessed the immunizer.
Mexico, with a population of 126 million, is the third country hardest hit by covid-19 in absolute numbers with 205,002 deaths and 2.2 million infections, according to official figures.
9.6 million doses have been applied in the country.