Spring is here and the big news is that vaccines rolled out around the East Cape. Vaccinations started throughout the public hospitals in San Jose and Los Cabos. Many folks from La Paz and the greater East Cape headed to Los Cabos for their jab while others waited for closer vaccination sites to open like Santiago, Miraflores, La Ribera, and finally, Los Barriles. On day one at the cancha, next to the DIF, 450 people were vaccinated in Los Barriles. Over the next few days 100+ dosis were distributed each day at the Centro de Salud.
The overwhelming majority of vaccine recipients were North American immigrants, like permanent and temporary residents. There remains a lot of skepticism in the Mexican community about the vaccines for covid19.
Let’s normalize asking your friends and neighbors over 60, ¿ya te vacunaste? Have you been vaccinated? Yo, si! At this point in the pandemic we’re not sure how to convince others to vaccinate, but leading by example is never the wrong answer.
Brittany pre-registered over 150 people for the covid vaccine just by people sending their CURP numbers. The second dose should be available in town any day now. When the online portal opens up for the 50-59 age group we will make an announcement. We can help you register when it’s your turn. We are still not sure if any employees at the clinic will be vaccinated as medical workers. Mexico has not made it a priority to vaccinate health care workers who work in private clinics and hospitals.
We have an email update list for anyone who wants to know when the next batch of vaccines are coming and what age group is next. Send your email address to: eastcapemedical@gmail.com The government will not post announcements until the vaccines have physically arrived in Los Barriles, so often the announcements are “MAYBE TOMORROW,” but we’re getting used to that now.
We have a brand new semi-automatic microbiology machine designed for identification and susceptibility testing of bacteria. Funding for this was through the combination of the generous support from the Rotary Club of Murray, Utah in partnership with the local Rotary Club of Los Barriles plus private donations made through Leaders2Give.
The main benefit of having a microbiology equipment with susceptibility testing on site is to have a quicker turnaround time, which will allow patients to receive the most suitable antibiotic treatment quickly (48-72 hours), avoiding recurrence of infection and, most importantly, contributing towards the decrease of antimicrobial resistance.
We are still doing a lot of covid19 testing every day for those who are traveling. Some days are busier than others and keeps us busy testing and sending results to your emails. Please, please try to make an appointment earlier rather than later with your flight dates. Email is the best method but you can also send a message on facebook, our website, or walk into the clinic and we can schedule you an appointment.
here is less covid in Baja Sur. The peak was in February with record deaths per day and record new cases per day but the statistics are plateauing. However, now that semana santa and Easter have passed we expect a peak in cases locally. Please be extra careful, courteous and keep in mind that very few locals have been vaccinated.
In March our clinical chemist Cecilia celebrated her birthday. Cecilia has been a rockstar performing all the covid tests along with all the routine laboratory tests our patients require. We simply could not function without her! AND the good news is, she is getting help in the next month with the addition of a new chemist to help with the new microbiology machine.
We’re also initiating a new “No Cavities Kid’s Club” in the Dental Clinic. We have another new staff member joining our reception team, Carlos Alvarez as Lupita takes her maternity leave.
We’re looking forward to having a great April, check in
for updates as we continue to grow our clinics to match the needs in the community.
Keep a positive approach to vaccines, they will be our way out of this global pandemic. Meanwhile, continue to wear masks when it’s indicated by Mexican Regulations.