Two months ago, a good friend and his wife flew to Dallas from Mexico City.  We were happy to see them but surprised as well because of COVID.

So I asked him: "What brought you to Dallas?"

He winked and confirmed what I suspected: "la vacuna," or the vaccine.  He also showed me his next ticket, for the next trip to Dallas for "vacuna numero dos."

I didn't press my friend for details, but this article confirmed what we now called "vaccine tourism."  This is from Mexico News Daily:

The Mexican Association of Travel Agencies (AMAV) has also seen a spike in business from vaccine tourism. In the past two weeks, it has sold 120,000 travel packages for Mexicans seeking to be vaccinated, Milenio reported.

At 20,000 pesos (US $1,000), the packages are not within the reach of every Mexican but for those who can afford it, it has proved to be an attractive option. The packages include flights, hotels, transportation and vaccine registration, mainly for destinations in Texas, Arizona or Miami, Florida.

It's not cheap, but it comes in handy if your employer is paying for the business trip.  Just pay for your wife's airline ticket, share the hotel room, and get "la vacuna."  In my friend's case, his wife travels as his secretary, so the employer paid for both of their tickets.

Why is this happening?  Mexico and Canada are behind the U.S. on vaccinations.

The best part of the story is that my friend said he was wrong about President Trump.  In other words, he confirmed that President Trump did a great job with the vaccines and the management of the COVID crisis.

Well, my friend is right.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

Image: gencat cat.

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