MONTERREY, Mexico – They travel thousands of miles by plane from Latin America to the United States, and in some places take a shuttle bus directly from the airport to Covid-19 vaccination sites. Their ranks include politicians, TV personalities, businessmen and a football team.
People of means from Latin America rent planes, book commercial flights, buy bus tickets and rent cars to get the vaccine in the United States due to lack of supplies at home.
Virginia Gónzalez and her husband flew from Mexico to Texas and then boarded a bus to a vaccination site. They undertook the journey again for a second dose. The couple from Monterrey, Mexico, act on the advice of the doctor who treats the man for prostate cancer. In total, they covered 1400 kilometers for two returns.
“It’s a matter of survival,” Gónzalez said of receiving a Covid-19 vaccine in the United States. ‘In Mexico, officials did not buy enough vaccines. It’s like they do not care about their citizens. ”
With a population of nearly 130 million people, Mexico has secured more vaccines than many Latin American countries – about 18 million doses as of Monday from the US, China, Russia and India. Most of it was given to health workers, people over 60 and some teachers, who so far are the only ones eligible. Most other Latin American countries, except Chile, are in the same situation or worse.
So vaccine seekers who can afford to travel are going to come to the United States to avoid the long wait, including people from as far away as Paraguay. Those who undertake the trip must obtain a tourist visa and have enough money to pay for the required coronavirus tests, plane tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars and other expenses.
In Mexico, leased flights to Texas are thriving.
Gónzalez and her husband were vaccinated in Edinburgh, Texas, a city about 100 miles[160 km]from their home. But with access points on the land for non-essential travel, the couple decided to take a commercial flight to Houston and then travel by bus.
Earlier this month, 19 players with Monterrey’s professional soccer team, known as Rayados, flew to Dallas to get the vaccine, local media reported. In Peru, Hernando De Soto, an economist elected president, suffered a setback after admitting to traveling to the United States to be vaccinated.
Television personalities posted on social media about their travels, which drew the mockery of many viewers who accused them of showing off their privilege. Juan José Origel, a Mexican television host, tweeted a photo of himself receiving the shot in Miami in January. Argentine TV personality Yanina Latorre also traveled to Miami for her elderly mother to receive a vaccine and posted a video on Instagram. Shortly thereafter, Florida officials began providing proof of residence for those who wanted a vaccine.
About half of the US states, including Texas, Arizona and California, do not have such a requirement and accept any official identification with a photo.
Many of the travelers have friends or family members who live in the United States and can help them go through the appointments or look for a surplus. Some have second homes in the US, but others borrow a US address. Some said they read that many Americans do not intend to be vaccinated.
Alejandra, a dentist who also lives in Monterrey, said she decided to seek a vaccine in the US shortly after losing her mother to Covid-19 in February. She registered online at a CVS pharmacy in Texas using the address of a friend who lives there.
This past weekend, she flew to Houston and drove Monday to receive her second Moderna shot in Pasadena, Texas. She asked that her full name not be published because she is afraid of retaliation after seeing reports that those who traveled to get vaccinations in the US could lose their visas.
Alejandra said she had a sense of calm after getting the booster shot and thinking of her mother.
“What would have happened if my mother had only had the chance to get the vaccine in the US,” she said.
She knows there is criticism that foreigners like her are exploiting U.S. taxpayers by being vaccinated in the United States, but she said she is trying to protect herself and her family.
“The pharmacies say it does not matter if you do not have documents … and they say that because they are looking for the common good of society,” she said.
The US government pays for the vaccines and for the cost of giving the shots to anyone who does not have insurance.
Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Health Services, said the vaccine in Texas is “intended for people who live, work or spend a significant amount of time in Texas”, and that more than 99% of the people who are vaccinated. were state residents.
Rich countries around the world were able to obtain the largest vaccine supply, including the US, which has been criticized for not doing more to help poorer countries.
Inequality promotes vaccine tourism, says Ernesto Ortiz, senior program manager at Duke University’s Global Health Innovation Center in North Carolina, which tracks the spread of coronavirus vaccines worldwide. In Peru, for example, only 2% of the 32 million people in the country received a dose.
“I do not blame them at all, they are desperate,” the Peruvian-American scientist said in an email.
Geovanny Vazquez said he and a friend were planning to take a commercial flight from Guatemala City to Dallas on May 3, where another friend offered to help them find a coronavirus shot.
They asked the vaccine to feel safe while working in their homeland, where they manage apartment buildings that they rent out to visitors, Vazquez said.
He said he could spend up to 20 days in the United States trying to get a chance. If he cannot be vaccinated in Texas, he plans to travel to other states such as Louisiana or Arizona.
Should he become infected with COVID-19, Vazquez is confident he would recover. “But I also work with people, and that’s the main reason I want to look for the chance” to get the vaccine in the US, “he said.
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