A medical worker (L) receives a COVID-19 vaccine at the General Hospital in Mexico City, Mexico, on Dec. 24, 2020. Mexico on Thursday kicked off its vaccination campaign against the COVID-19, with a vaccine developed by U.S. laboratory Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. (Photo by Luis Licona/Xinhua)

Mexico on Thursday kicked off its vaccination campaign against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, with a vaccine developed by U.S. laboratory Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

With healthcare workers prioritized, the first person to be vaccinated was Maria Irene Ramirez, head of nursing at the intensive care unit of the Ruben Lenero Hospital in Mexico City, the capital and one of the regions hit the worst by the pandemic, with 302,199 confirmed cases and 20,472 deaths.

At the ceremony, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell noted that while the pandemic is not over, "with the vaccine it will be possible to combat it more effectively."

"Today, Dec. 24, vaccination against COVID-19 begins and today the management of the pandemic changes with a light of hope," said Lopez-Gatell during the event, which was broadcast live as part of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's daily morning press conference.

Vaccination began a day after the first 3,000 doses arrived from Pfizer-BioNTech laboratories, the first of 1.4 million doses expected to be delivered by Jan. 31, 2021.

Mexico registered 1,350,079 cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday night and 120,311 deaths from the disease. Enditem