MEXICO 

Mexico’s coronavirus death toll exceeded 200,000 Thursday, according to the country’s Health Ministry.  

The country has registered a total of 200,211 confirmed fatalities from COVID-19 since reporting its first confirmed death on March 18 last year. 

Mexico has recorded an estimated 2,409,459 cases. 

On June 4 last year, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said that reaching 60,000 deaths would represent a “very catastrophic scenario.”

Regarding vaccination efforts, Mexico has administered a total of 6,243,886 vaccines, far short of the stipulated 14.1 million doses forecast to be adminstered by the end of the month by health officials. 

Earlier in the day, Mexico received another one million doses of the Sinovac vaccine produced by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech, which brought the total number of doses from the company to 4 million. 

According to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the armed forces and all government agencies are preparing to step up vaccination efforts in an attempt to prevent a possible third wave of the pandemic, prioritizing seniors. 

The president said prioritizing the elderly will reduce the death rate by 80%. 

Mexico has the second highest death rate per 100 cases globally with a 9% mortality rate, according to Johns Hopkins.