Health Minister Jorge Alcocer has once again claimed that COVID-19 vaccines could inhibit the development of children’s immune systems.

“… Children have a wonderful immune system compared to the later phases … of their life,” he said during an appearance in the lower house of Congress.

In that context, “hindering” the “learning” of a child’s immune system – the “cells that defend us our whole lives” – with a “completely inorganic structure” such as a vaccine is not the right thing to do, the health minister said.

Alcocer made the remarks a week and a half after claiming that vaccinating children against COVID-19 could have a “limiting” effect on the development of their immune systems. He said Tuesday that he wouldn’t vaccinate his grandchildren.

Health regulator Cofepris has approved the use of the Pfizer vaccine to inoculate youths aged 12 to 17 but the federal government hasn’t made the shot widely available to minors, and hasn’t indicated it will do so.

However, it has begun inoculating adolescents with underlying health conditions that place them at risk of serious COVID-19 illness, and vaccinated minors who obtained injunctions ordering they be given shots.

In other COVID-19 news:

• Amid criticism from opposition lawmakers for the government’s response to the pandemic, Alcocer said that Mexico is on the path back to normality. He said that case numbers have been on the wane for 11 weeks and noted that the majority of Mexico’s 32 states are low risk green on the federal government’s coronavirus stoplight map.

• The Health Ministry reported 4,538 new cases and 392 additional COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday. Mexico’s accumulated tallies are currently just under 3.79 million and 286,888, respectively. Estimated active cases number 27,618.

• More than 118 million vaccine doses have now been administered in Mexico after over 815,000 shots were given Tuesday. Almost 71 million Mexicans have had at least one shot, and 77% of that number are fully vaccinated.

With reports from Reforma