• PUSH: A bipartisan group of members in the US Congress renewed a push to develop a binational plan to deal with Covid-19 along the US-Mexico border -addressing issues like testing and vaccine distribution- as the region is about to mark one year of restrictions to cross-border travel.
• BILL: While the pace of US vaccination has began to accelerate and with Mexico’s vaccine rollout still far behind, lawmakers in the US House of Representatives seek to pass a bill directing the Biden administration to engage with the Mexican government to develop a binational Covid-19 border plan.
• DEFEAT: “As vaccine access expands in the United States, it is imperative to keep in mind that this deadly global pandemic won’t be defeated anywhere until it is defeated everywhere”, said Verónica Escobar (D-TX). Seven out of eight members representing the US-Mexico border support the bill.
• BORDER: Home to 15 million residents, the US-Mexico border has seen some severe Covid-19 outbreaks in cities like El Paso and Tijuana. Restrictions to travel at the border since 2020 have costed nearly US $5 billion only in Texas, according to Rice University’s Baker Institute.
