Argentina and Mexico expand newborn vaccination programs

In Cipolletti, Argentina, the Hospital Pedro Moguillansky has reorganized its services to administer the BCG vaccine to newborns every Friday between 8:00 and 14:00 at the Central Vaccination Center. Health officials stress that the dose should be given within the first seven days of life to protect infants from severe tuberculosis.

In Tamaulipas, Mexico, the state health secretariat has begun offering the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine free of charge to pregnant women between weeks 32 and 36 of gestation. The program, led by vaccination program chief Jesús Manuel Zárate Torres, aims to transfer antibodies to the fetus, shielding newborns from RSV‑related pneumonia and bronchiolitis during the first months of life. Over 3,000 women have already been immunized, and the effort is part of a broader push to complete maternal vaccination schedules for pertussis, tetanus, diphtheria, influenza and COVID‑19.