From the second half of January to date, covid infections among employees of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) were reduced 85.7 percent nationwide, going from around 35,000 to 5,000 cases, which is due largely to the progress of vaccination, said Arturo Olivares Cerda, general secretary of the National Union of Social Security Workers (SNTSS).
Meanwhile, the number of deaths “was reduced quite a bit,” he indicated, if one considers that during the most difficult stage of the pandemic the average level was more than a thousand deaths.
He detailed in an interview that from last December to date, in the middle of the fourth wave, three deaths have been reported, two of them of staff members who refused to be vaccinated.
“Fortunately, with this fourth wave, Social Security workers have had the opportunity to receive booster vaccinations. Initially we had a large number of disabled and infected personnel, with minimal deaths,” Olivares Cerda explained.
Little hospitalization
Regarding the hospitalization of Social Security workers, he assured that “it is very scarce”, since the personnel who have been hospitalized recover between three to five days and are discharged.
The union leader pointed out that although there have been infections among IMSS personnel in recent months, “vaccination helped a lot”, in such a way that complications, hospitalizations and deaths were reduced. “Yes, unlike the other waves, a very important decline was seen,” he stressed.