Mexico's COVID-19 Death Toll Becomes the World's 2nd Highest After Data Revision
A person set flowers in the grave of a deceased relative in the San Miguel Xico cemetery on March 25, 2021 in Valle de Chalco, Mexico. Johns Hopkins University reported yesterday that Mexico reached 199,627 deaths related to COVID-19 and the country could surpass the 200,000 victims today. Hector Vivas/Getty Images

The latest revision of the Mexican health ministry on the country's COVID-19 death toll has placed Mexico as the second nation in the world with the highest coronavirus-related deaths.

Mexico is now only behind the United States as more than 321,000 individuals are believed to have died on Mexican soil because of the virus.

Based on the report revised by the country's health ministry, by the end of the sixth week of this year, Mexico had 294,287 COVID-19 deaths, which is 60 percent higher compared to the initial figure given, which is only at 182,301.

And since the start of mid-February, more than 26,772 deaths have been reported that were connected to COVID-19 all over Mexico, putting the total death toll in the country to not less than 321,000.

Mexico's COVID-19 Death Overtakes Brazil

The latest figures put Mexico ahead of Brazil, which recently registered 310,000 deaths, and under the U.S. with 549,000 recorded fatalities. But the numbers for Mexico sound alarming as the country only has a population of 126 million, which is far smaller than the two countries.

Because of the emergence of the latest numbers, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has faced criticisms nationwide because of how he handled the pandemic crisis.

The opposition in Mexico has accused him of downplaying the severity of the pandemic and blamed him for the setbacks in the country's vaccination program.

According to BBC News, experts have long warned the Mexican government that the country's actual death toll is much higher due to a lack of testing. Experts also pointed out the shortage of intensive care beds in many Mexican states that have resulted in a huge portion of individuals dying at home.

Moreover, the latest figures came after the health ministry officials conducted a review on excess deaths and a review of death certificates.

The head of Mexico's response team to the pandemic, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, sent a warning to his people last week that Mexico has a risk of facing another wave of infections as millions of Mexicans are preparing for the Easter holidays.

COVID Vaccine Relief

His political rivals and opponents have continuously accused the Mexican President, who himself is a COVID-19 recovered patient, for not taking the crisis seriously enough and is often seen in public not wearing a face mask.

The criticized vaccination program of Mexico has already sent out 6.1 million doses administered based on their latest numbers, Aljazeera reported.

Meanwhile, the U.S. recently announced the release of four million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to countries like Mexico and Canada. The announcement gave purpose to a stockpile of vaccines as both countries have approved the vaccination of AstraZeneca, while the U.S. didn't get the approval.

The White House stated that 2.5 million of the seven million doses of vaccines in the U.S. would be transported straight to Mexico, while 1.5 million will be sent out to Canada.

Leaders from both countries had asked the White House for assistance. Officials from Mexico even pressed the Biden administration on the issue during their meeting about the security at the U.S.-Mexican border earlier this month, CNN reported.

WATCH: Mexico Says Country's True COVID Death Toll is 60% Higher Than Official - Inside News