Mistrust and belief in own remedies lead to vaccination failure among Mexico’s Chiapas Indians

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – With only 21% of adults vaccinated, Chiapas is by far the Mexican state with the lowest vaccination coverage rate due to indigenous distrust of vaccination.

At the beginning of the pandemic, about 150 localities belonging to 25 municipalities in Chiapas completely denied the existence of the coronavirus, claiming that it was a disease created by governments to manipulate.

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In this sense, the issue of vaccination is no different, and more than a year after the beginning of the pandemic, the Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Tojolabal, and Chol Maya peoples, among others, have not changed their minds.

OWN REMEDIES

Many are reluctant to be vaccinated and prefer to use their own methods to combat the virus.

This is the case of Don Fernando, a 40-year-old native of San Juan Chamula, who, while selling ice cream in different flavors with fruits from the region in downtown San Cristóbal de las Casas, said that he is not convinced about the vaccine and has not yet decided to apply the first dose.

“I’m not convinced because you can improve your health with your diet by eating healthy, not eating so much canned food, so much fat and things like that. I disagree with contaminating the body,” the man said.

VACCINATION CAMPAIGN

The somewhat naïve belief of the government to convince the indigenous population with intensive campaigns in different languages shows that the cultural difference is not being understood by the campaign leaders.

Indigenous people see almost daily how, in the world of “white people” in advertising, public relations, and “information campaigns,” half-truths and untruths are told. And now, all of a sudden, everything is supposed to be true, and they are to believe that Covid vaccines are good?

We don’t even see it anymore because Western societies are so used to lies. But the indigenous people do see it.

At the same time, they are daily served with different information through their own WhatsApp groups and media that enjoy their trust.

On the subject of trust in government: Thousands of indigenous Tzotzil and Tzeltal people from Pantelho gathered this Sunday to show their support for the new group of armed civilians called “Los Machetes”, the self-defense groups recently created.

The spokeswoman for the community members explained that the “narco-city council” of Pantelhó had murdered the Tzotzil people for two decades, and it was the insecurity in which they live that made them take up arms “against the hired killers”.

VACCINATION STRATEGY

The low vaccination coverage rate has led to a divergence between the federal and state governments, although both belong to the same party, Movimiento Regeneración Nacional (Morena).

“It has nothing to do with people not wanting (to be vaccinated), but with not having done the necessary work in terms of organization, logistics, supply, and dissemination,” Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador claimed last week about the delay in Chiapas.

Hugo López-Gatell, Undersecretary of Prevention and Health Promotion, said that it is expected that 40% of the population will be vaccinated, with a special operation to restore coverage against Covid-19 in Chiapas.

Since July 16, vaccination in rural areas has been open to people 30 years and older. In remote communities where access is difficult, adults 18 years and older are vaccinated with mobile units.

According to official data, the historical maximum of vaccinations in the region was surpassed this weekend, with 48,503 doses against Covid-19 in 71 sites.