Not a day passes by without someone mentioning CoVid and the vaccine distribution. CDMX goes down to green and it seems (touch wood) that numbers are decreasing and we’re slowly but surely moving towards normal life. Nevertheless, chances are that if you’re not a senior citizen you’re left guessing when will the vaccine be coming to you. There were rumours vaccines for the 40- would start in June, now it seems to be July and then some people believe it will be August. Uncertainty has made a bunch of people to take matters into their own hands and flying quickly to USA to get the awaited shot/shots to feel slightly safer.
There was no question for me to jump to another country and get the vaccine for the past months, it seemed morally unacceptable when a lot of citizens from that country, as well as front line workers everywhere were scrambling to get the coveted shot, but then, US changed presidency and vaccines were pouring and anyone that wanted to be vaccinated had access to their preferred shot. The discourse changed, some states, out of pragmatism or solidarity decided to make the requirements for vaccinations simple and accessible for everyone, including tourists and suddenly a lot of people in our entourage starting asking … well is it that bad? Especially when you hear that herd immunity is practically unattainable and every day passed a new variant can wreak havoc in all the harmony built in the past couple of months.
So here we are, heading north to get the shot and get over with it, I must say, the moment we had decided to do it, I started daydreaming of things that I had unconsciously erased from my mind. If I were vaccinated I could start volunteering in the dog rescue I saw, I could also rent a coworking space and get out the house, perhaps I might even make some friends (gasp!). We started to do some research namely on places that are turning a blind eye on vaccine tourism, and here are our finds,
Where to go?
At the moment, closer to Mexico both Texas and Florida are welcoming tourists to the vaccine fest. The whole list includes, Arizona, Louisiana, Nevada, New York City and Pennsylvania.
The list keeps growing and states like Maine, Michigan and Virginia have announced that they will allow non residents to take the shot. Check before leaving but it’s probable that it would work.
Flights
Ok the good news is, vaccinations are easy to find; the bad news? airlines have heard of this and they have raised their prices A LOT., On our end, we checked Volaris, Aeromexico and Viva Aerobus for both Texas and Florida and prices were hefty. Plan your trip asap, and if you can, make your dates as flexible as possible because chances are the flight will be expensive. If you are able, and have more time than we do, perhaps go to less common states like Pennsylvania or Arizona.
In order to board your plane you will need an antigen test or a PCR test. There are several places offering this, the easiest (and very affordable) is at the airport. The test is done by the UNAM and it costs 750MXN. They can also issue the certificate in both English and Spanish. If you prepare to play safe, you can also book a test at home, you will pay a premium but they can come one day before and there should not be any surprises. We decided to take the test at home with CEMIGEN which was super professional and quick. It was 1000MXN and the chemist came, took the test and 4 hours later sent us by email our results in English and Spanish.
While vaccines are our safest bet some individuals have presented some side effects, our recommendations are: make sure you have good medical insurance that covers foreign trips, specially if you’re flying to USA where medical care can be incredibly pricey.
Booking your vaccine
Our bet is to get the J&J that only needs one shot and that will help us get the much needed protection without a second trip to USA. Depending on where you’re going several different outlets are providing vaccines and they normally announce beforehand which shot will they be offering. A wonderful site is https://www.vaccinespotter.org to learn which vaccine are they offering and how many are available.
Some sites like CVS, Walmart and Publix require you being in USA for the booking. If you want to do your booking ahead of your flight your best chance is to use a VPN. We already have made our booking for the day that we arrived.
Vaccine Day
So, we flew, we arrived and we went straight to our vaccine appointment because we were that anxious, the experience was a bit surreal, I felt kind of in an apocalypse movie with US Army around us and without even leaving the car. The whole process might have taken 20 minutes + 10mins of waiting afterwards but what was very interesting (not!) was that for the next 2 days we were having ongoing fever, I really recommend that if you can, stay somewhere where you can sleep and rest in case you have side effects.
Some valuable insights
If for some reason you cannot get the one-dose-shot please note that Mexico is constantly bringing Pfizer and Astra Zeneca vaccines (in fact, the second one is now being packaged in Mexico) so you can at least have the first dose of either of these vaccines in US and still be protected for whenever you are eligible here in Mexico to your vaccine.
If you’re taking a 2 day trip, bring with you some paracetamol and a thermometer, chances are, you can get a bit of a reaction after your shot and you will need to control your temperature before boarding your return flight.
If you are unable to travel stay confident, Mexico is not doing badly with vaccines and I’m sure your time will come sooner than expected, just today they announced 49- will start next week in CDMX!
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