Lilian Hernandez Osorio
La Jornada Newspaper
Friday, January 16, 2026, p. 9
Mexico is about to lose the certification of a measles-free country granted by the World Health Organization (WHO), since February marks one year since the first outbreak of this virus in the country and it has not been eradicated, since until yesterday there were more than 6,700 cases, of which 5 percent are still active, warned the director of the child and adolescent health program of the national center of the sector of the Ministry of Health, Samantha Gaerther Barnard.
The official admitted that it is an unprecedented figure and it could have been worse if the vaccines had not been applied, which already number 11 million throughout the country, of the 18 million they have.
He announced that since this virus has not been eradicated, by 2026 it is planned to administer second doses to children under five years of age and the possibility of installing a megacenter to contain outbreaks is being evaluated.
“Without vaccination we would be in a different scenario,” said Samantha Gaerther during her participation in the conference Evaluating the Vaccination Megacenter, organized by the UNAM last November.
During his participation, Gaerther Barnard also reported that this winter season they have administered 34 million vaccines against influenza and Covid-19, out of a goal of 50 million people.
“If we were not carrying out multiple multidisciplinary vaccination actions, perhaps we would be in a much worse scenario,” he insisted.
He added that the 11 million doses that have been applied are a “robust” figure and it has not been easy to convince people because they have a low risk perception. “People said they didn’t recognize measles. They see a hive, they get a fever, but they didn’t see the complications. Measles is complicated by many things and we have the tool to prevent it, which is vaccination.”
He explained that in the face of the outbreak it was decided to take multiple actions and “we are not going to stop.” One of these measures is to resume the national vaccination weeks, which will be three.
In addition, he mentioned that there will be a measles monitoring campaign, which aims to ensure that children under five years of age have the complete vaccination schedule plus an additional dose against measles to protect them. “We are not going to stop and we are going to continue vaccinating what is necessary,” he assured.
