Mexico President Returns to Public Life After Covid-19 Diagnosis

(Bloomberg) -- After weeks of absence following his Covid-19 diagnosis, Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is back.

The president -- who contracted the virus at the end of January -- reappeared on Monday to lead his usual 7 a.m. press briefing. In his first comments, he thanked those who wished his recovery and said he was working to bring more vaccines to the country.

AMLO, as the president is known, said he has spoken twice with the Chinese ambassador about a vaccine, and added that Pfizer Inc. will resume deliveries on Feb. 18 at the latest.

Mexico’s vaccination campaign has been trailing those of regional peers including Brazil and Argentina in doses per capita, and officials are rushing to fill the gap created by Pfizer after the company temporarily suspended deliveries. The country’s virus death toll climbed to 166,200 on Monday, the third-highest in the world according to Johns Hopkins data.

Lopez Obrador continued to work during his recovery. He said he had received anti-viral and anti-inflammatory treatment from Jan. 25 and that he will now wait for his turn to be inoculated.

“I want to express my solidarity with the families of the victims, with those who have suffered from this terrible disease,” he said. “In my case I was well cared for, in a timely manner.”

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