In early March, CNN reported that "Whole towns are refusing Covid-19 vaccines in Mexico", profiling two of more than a dozen municipalities which have rejected COVID-19 shots for one reason or another. CNN reported on statements made by residents of Aldama and San Juan Cancuc, small indigenous towns located in the central highlands of the Mexican state of Chiapas.
"Why would I get vaccinated? I'm not sick. It wouldn't be good if they tried to force us to get vaccinated. I don't know," María Magdalena López Santís, an Aldama resident, told CNN.
The indigenous communities of Mexico (and many Mexicans in general) have a history of mistrusting the federal government. After generations of being ignored or colonized, the communities are largely autonomous and operate under their own rule of law. It is this history which has caused several communities in Chiapas and other parts of Mexico to reject the COVID-19 shots altogether.
Of course, CNN reports that "a lack of information and conspiracy theories that have spread in the region like wildfire are to blame for vaccine hesitancy." Aldama's town secretary Tomás López Pérez told CNN that because his people "don't really know what vaccines are made of, we believe that they contain the [Covid-19] virus and that's the main reason why people don't want to get vaccinated."
Comment: See also: Pelosi says masks still required in House chamber despite CDC guidance