While process was not as troublesome as when seniors registered, there was still some confusion.
While process was not as troublesome as when seniors registered, there was still some confusion.
On April 28, the Mexican government opened the COVID-19 vaccine registration process for people between 50 and 59. Those who register through the “Mi Vacuna” portal will receive the immunization doses next week.
Unlike the earlier registry period for seniors, when the system crashed within minutes of its announcement, this time, the system did not collapse.
Still, there have been some glitches. The day before the launch for 50-somethings, the portal was assigning registration numbers with the initials AM, corresponding to “Adulto Mayor” (senior) instead of A50, which stands for adults in their 50s.
“We were anxious. So, we registered my father. The registration read AM, which made us think that we had it wrong because we did it in advance,” said Marisol Rivas, who runs a clothing store. “We registered him on Tuesday evening, although we had to do it on Wednesday. We were surprised that the registration went through.”
The problem immediately escalated on social media, where a message spread out saying that people who had AM on their registration numbers should repeat the process. Many tried to no avail.
That’s just as well, as Hugo López-Gatell, Mexico’s Vice Minister of Prevention and Health Promotion, pointed out through the same platform that the message was fake. A snapshot of the image with the word “fake” in capital letters superimposed accompanied his clarification.
En redes sociales y grupos de mensajería instantánea circulan mensajes FALSOS sobre fallas en el registro para la vacunación de personas de 50 a 59 años. No es necesario hacer un doble registro. Todo lo relacionado a la aplicación de vacunas se informará a través de la @SSalud_mx pic.twitter.com/S91UnTqxKo
— Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez (@HLGatell) April 28, 2021
The federal official said it was not necessary to carry out a double registration. He also warned that the official communication channels of the Ministry of Health would report everything related to the COVID-19 vaccine application program.
Many users reported through Twitter that the portal’s registers began with the A50 code as of Wednesday.
“Today, we entered to the website again to download and print the PDF, and it already has the A50 code … It seems that they updated the program,” Rivas said. “Now we only have to take my dad and, God willing, he will receive his vaccine without a problem.”
The INEGI (Mexico’s National Institute of Geography and Statistics) estimates that, on May, 9, 128,769 Mexicans from 50 to 59 will receive the vaccine. Later, in June, the rest of the population will be vaccinated according to the program presented by the president’s office, which is overseeing that process.
(Translated and edited by Gabriela Olmos; edited by Matthew B. Hall)
(Edited by Gabriela Alejandra Olmos and Matthew B. Hall)
