september 12, each of the 951 public hospitals that receives covid-19 patients was given 1,500 cachitos (one-twetieth of a lottery ticket) for the september 15 raffle of the presidential airplane. each cachito has a value of mxn $500; if a hospital wins, the mxn $20 million (us $1 million) is to be applied to hospital infrastructure, equipment, or medical supplies. the party of the democratic revolution called for an investigation. on september 15, hospitals in fresnillo, durango (issste); tepic, nayarit (imss); and charo, michoacán (imss) each won mxn $20 million in the raffle of the presidential plane. federal deputy miguel acundo gonzález (social encounter party) died from covid-19 on september 16. thirty-one deputies have tested positive for covid-19, but most have been asystematic or have had mild cases. the sre announced on september 17 that the partial closure of the border with the united states would extend until october 21. british medical journal the lancet publishes an article that states the high level of covid-19 deaths among mexican health workers is related to poor working conditions. mexico has reported 1,320 deaths in the sector, compared to 1,077 in the united states, 649 in the united kingdom, and 634 in brazil. it was announced on september 24 that the government has spent mxn $59.2 billion on the coronavirus, $35 billion of which was by the federal government and the rest by the states. the greatest expenses were in march as the government bought equipment and supplies and began hiring more personnel. joel molina ramírez, a senator ( mrn) from tlaxcala, died on october 24. on november 13 (week 44) mexico reported a total of 991,835 cases and 97,056 total deaths, including 626 deaths in 24-hours, which represents a 2% increase since week 43 but a 46% decrease since week 28. 39% of the people tested for covid-19 result positive. more than 3,000 active cases were reported in cdmx, nuevo león, state of méxico, and guanajuato. mexico city may have to return to a state of maximum alert (traffic light red). arturo herrera gutiérrez, secretary of finance and public credit (shcp), says that a vaccine is necessary for an economic recovery, and that mexico will have financial resources to pay for ten million doses per month. dr. hugo lópez-gatell says the preliminary results from pfizer and biontech are promising, but warns that mexico does not have the infrastructure to store the vaccine at the needed -70 °c. mexico passed 1,000,000 confirmed cases on november 15. a total of over 100,000 covid-19 deaths was reported on november 19. on november 20, a judge in chihuahua ruled that elektra department stores and banco azteca, both owned by billionaire ricardo salinas pliego, are not essential industries and must comply with the restrictions put in place by the state department of health. a record 10,000 new cases in a single day were recorded on november 24 and 25 after a 5% decrease was reported from week 45 to week 46. mexico city and some states expressed concern about saturation of hospitals. besides the capital, guanajuato, nuevo león, state of méxico, querétaro, coahuila, durango, jalisco, and zacatecas each have more than 1,000 active cases. chiapas and campeche continue with green traffic lights. on december 3, amlo said that the government of the united states helped him secure an agreement from pfizer to secure 34.4 million doses of its covid-19 vaccine, including 250,000 doses in december. the army and navy will be responsible for distribution. authorities in puerto marqués, guerrero, broke up a birthday party of 500 people celebrating xv años; no arrests reported. the use of qr codes was begun in mexico city metro line 2 to aid in contact tracing on december 9. it will soon extend to other metro and bus lines. there were a reported 4,235 hospital beds occupied, representing 63% of capacity, in the valley of mexico. although authorities have asked people to stay home as much as possible, it is common to see people on the streets and in shopping areas, often ignoring health precautions such as safe distancing and the use of face coverings. on december 10, for the first time three dogs, two in mexico city and one in the state of mexico, were reported with covid-19. on december 11, lópez-gatell said that the average age of death due to the coronavirus in mexico is 55, compared to 75 in europe. he explained that the difference is primarily due to high rates of obesity and diabetes in mexico. he also said that all purchases of vaccines will be done by the federal government, although some politicians have suggested governors should buy their own supplies for their states. the government's medical safety commission approved the emergency use of the pfizer-biontech coronavirus vaccine, following approval by great britain, canada, and bahrain and just before approval by the united states. the first 250,000 doses will go to health workers. on december 15, lópez-gatell said that the government will not order a general lockdown despite recent increases in cases because 60 million people who live in poverty cannot afford it. the country reported 5,930 new infections and 345 deaths, fr a total 1,255,974 cases and 114,298. mexico city reports 75% saturation of hospital beds and 68%-70% saturation of beds with ventilators. governor alejandro tello of zacatecas, one of two states (with baja california) with traffic light red, tests positive for covid-19. according to a survey released by the instituto nacional de salud pública (national institute of public health—insp) on december 16, 31 million mexicans, 25% of the population, has been exposed to the virus. on december 16, thirty-seven hospitals in the valley of mexico reported "critical" (90%—100%) occupancy, 25 reported "medium" (50%—89%) occupancy, and 13 "good" (0%—49%) occupancy for covid-19 patients. also 150 members of sedena and 50 members of semar began training for application of the pfizer-biontech covid-19 vaccine. on december 17, hugo lopez-gatell walked back an announcement made last week that mexico planned to buy 35 million doses of the chinese-made convidecia vaccine, suggesting the figure may be closer to 10 million doses. he also said the country is close to signing an agreement to purchases 22 million doses from the belgian-made janssen pharmaceutica vaccine. despite government warnings against family reunions, on december 18 the instituto nacional de migración (national migration institute—inm) reported that a caravan of 700 vehicles had crossed the border from laredo, texas, filled with migrants looking to reunite with their families for holiday gatherings. the number of passengers at benito juárez international airport in cdmx increased as the christmas holiday season neared. on december 20, the instituto nacional de transparencia, acceso a la información y protección de datos personales (national institute for transparency, access to information, and protection of personal information, inai) order the secretariat of health (ssa) to provide complete information about the number of covid-related deaths from february 19 to august 31. esta es una información que debe tener la secretaría de salud disponible, aun cuando el cálculo sea letal, como alguna vez lo hemos dicho, sea gráficamente desolador, sea evidentemente lamentable y, por supuesto, preocupante, porque es una tragedia, repito, no se debe maquillar, debe exponerse claramente, ("this is information that the ministry of health must have available, even when the calculation is lethal, as we have once said, it is graphically devastating, it is obviously regrettable and, of course, worrying, because it is a tragedy, i repeat, you must not put on makeup, it must be clearly exposed,") said inai commissioner francisco javier acuña llamas. patricia elisa durán reveles, municipal president of naucalpan, state of mexico, celebrates her wedding in cuernavaca, morelos with 100 guests, despite prohibitions of large crowds. naucalpan is classified in the red zone while cuernavaca is orange. the first batch of vaccines arrived on december 23 with distribution to begin on december 24. between december 21 and 23, two hundred three vehicles with 609 people were turned around when they tried to enter queretaro despite prohibitions against unnecessary travel. authorities revised 3,383 vehicles and 7,767 people. morelos returned to red alert on december 24. the state reported an 80% increase in cases in december. a costco big-box store in cuernavaca had been closed less than 24 hours earlier for violating restrictions on capacity. six hundred twenty employees of imss from 13 states were sent to the cdmx on december 26 to reinforce efforts to combat the virus. they were supported by 500 cuban health workers. ssa reported on december 27 that 10% of the country's total deaths can be attributed to covid-19. the average number of deaths increased annually by 20,000 from 2015 to 2019, but so far in 2020 the increase has been about 200,000. sixty-two medical residents at mexico city general hospital, including 48 who work directly with covid-19 patients, protested because they did not receive vaccines but personnel who do not work with virus patients did. governor josé ignacio peralta sánchez of colima announced that he had tested positive for covid-19. despite the red alert prohibiting large gatherings, in the state of mexico, police in ecatapec and chalco, state of mexico, were compelled to close a bar and several large parties as well as stores illegally selling alcohol over the weekend of december 25–27. on december 29, amlo reported that china would be sending eight million doses of its cansino bio vaccine to mexico between january and march 2021, and the vaccination of mexico's elderly could begin. the vaccine does not require cold storage and only one dose is required. on december 30, amlo promised to investigate, and if appropriate, punish the director of a hospital in the state of mexico who, along with his wife and daughters, inappropriately received vaccinations reserved for frontline health workers. an unconfirmed report on milenio televisión indicated that 29 of the 109 vaccines applied in coahuila went to health-system bureaucrats instead of frontline workers. 2020 in mexico ended on december 31 with 1,426,094 confirmed cases (12,159 in the last 24 hours) and 125,807 confirmed deaths (910 in the last 24 hours). the virus strain that began in the u.k. has not been found in mexico. dr. ana paola de cosío farías, assigned to pediatric hospital "dr. silvestre frenk freund", centro médico nacional siglo xxi, resigns after complaining that she and her colleagues have been passed over for receiving the vaccine and have been denied the covid-19 bonus payment. january–march 2021 on january 1, police in mexico city (ssc) warned of online and social media fraud in the purchase or rent of oxygen tanks. over the weekend of january 1 to 3, oxygen distribution at the hospital general de zona 83 (imss), in morelia, michoacán, failed. thirty-six patients died before employees could restore the system. amlo reported on january 2 that 64% of the 53,625 doses of vaccines the country has received have been applied. he expects the 750,000 health workers in the country to be vaccinated by the end of the january. a 32-year-old doctor in nuevo leon was hospitalized after an alergic reaction to the pfizer vaccine. starting january 4, five entities—cdmx, state of mexico, baja california, guanajuato, and morelos—will be on red alert, 22 are orange, three yellow, and two—campeche and chiapas—green. the federal commission for protection against health risks (cofepris) authorized the emergency use of the oxford-astrazeneca vaccine. mexico signed an agreement to acquire 77.4 million doses between march and august 2021. 45,850 doses of the pfizer vaccine arrived at the mexico city international airport (aicm) on january 5, 2021, destined for frontline health workers. 43,960 people have received the first injection. amlo outlined plans to recruit 10,000 brigades with 120,000 people to vaccinate 3 million people in isolated communities across the country. the plan calls for administering the vaccine in small communities first and major cities last. on january 7 the catholic church reported that four bishops and 135 priests had died in 2020 due to covid-19. for the second day in a row, a new record, this time 13,734 new cases were reported in one day. there are a total of 1,493,569 confirmed cases, and there is a 42% positivity rate. on january 8, mexico city health director oliva lópez arellano clarified that the city has not initiated code blue for hopelessly ill patients in hospitals in the city. some patients have arrived at