"It's like the whole country is here for the vaccine."

[dalton99a]

https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/mexico-elite-access-texas-vaccine/

Private Jets, “Shopping Homes,” and WhatsApp: How Mexico’s Elite Accessed Texas’s Vaccine Supply
As vaccination rollout in their country has been slow, wealthy Mexicans have spent thousands on expensive trips abroad to get inoculated.
By Peter Holley and Maria Jimenez Moya
April 24, 2021

The small, four-passenger jet took off from Tampico, Mexico, on a recent morning in mid-April and headed north, crossing the border and landing in McAllen four hours later. Inside the plane, a 51-year-old businesswoman from one of the wealthiest families in northeastern Mexico relaxed alongside her mother. On the tarmac in Texas, where her plane was surrounded by ten other private jets from Mexico, she told immigration authorities that the purpose of their trip was a routine appointment with a plastic surgeon in Houston. She wasn’t lying, but her answer conveniently omitted a larger, more important aim. The women had crossed into the United States to get their COVID-19 vaccinations at a U.S. clinic, spending $5,000 on the flight alone and using their privileged status to bypass their own country’s slow-moving and, at times, chaotic vaccine rollout.

Within hours, the pair had secured vaccination appointments at a Houston Walmart and a plush room at the Westin Galleria, a resort-style hotel with direct access to one of the most popular shopping malls in the world. In the past two months, the hotel has become the premier destination in Texas for thousands of wealthy Mexicans awaiting vaccination. During her stay this month, the businesswoman said she had to wait for 45 minutes to access the business center’s printer one morning because a long line of Mexican medical tourists were anxiously printing documents to take to their vaccine appointments. When it came time to get her shot, she prepared for the possibility of pushback from health officials. “I went to the appointment with my IRS receipts, proof of property ownership in the U.S., and everything, just in case,” she said. “When I come back for my second dose, I’m still going to be scared.” ....

By the time many travelers reach the Westin Galleria in Houston, fears about getting the vaccine begin to dissipate. Medical tourists find themselves surrounded by the same faces that already inhabit their world of upscale restaurants, shopping malls, country clubs, and gated communities back home. On a recent Friday, the hotel’s warmly lit, marble-tiled lobby was full of Mexican travelers of all ages dressed in trendy attire, with luggage and shopping bags and tiny dogs in tow. The hotel had placed a full-time Spanish speaker at the front desk in February; a manager at the desk estimated that 50 percent or more of the hotel’s guests were Mexicans in town for the vaccine. “We see people for about five days at a time and then we see them again a few weeks later when they come back for the second vaccine,” she said.

One floor up, the Galleria almost felt like an upscale shopping mall in Mexico City, 1,500 miles south. A small army of multigenerational tourists, typically speaking Spanish and dressed in understated designer clothing, milled around the Apple store, perused Armani Exchange, formed lines outside Louis Vuitton, and munched on hamburgers at Shake Shack. “It’s crazy to see this many Mexicans outside Mexico,” a father from Mexico City who was in town to get a shot remarked as he waited in line with his son outside the Ferragamo store. “It’s like the whole country is here for the vaccine.”

[tanyev]

1. When everyone in the U.S. that wants the vaccine has gotten it, that's fine.

There still may be a lot of seniors, though, that want the vaccine and haven’t been able to navigate the process to get it.

[Shermann]

2. We're transitioning into having a vaccine surplus very rapidly

I don't see that trend turning around.

Unless maybe Ted Nugent comes out with a PSA...

[JI7]

3. They are actually vaccinating less people these days than they are able to

[tanyev]

4. I know demand is falling--but there was a plan to vaccinate homebound seniors

in the Dallas area that got postponed when the J&J vaccine was paused. There are some that have fallen through the cracks and I hope we can get them taken care of soon.