The California-based pharmaceutical business, Moderna, provided Mexico with 2.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine as the country is currently threatened by a massive surge of COVID cases. Mexico's death toll has surpassed an alarming 300,000 mark.

Mexico recorded 300,000 test-confirmed coronavirus deaths, but a government review of death certificates puts the exact toll at roughly 460,000, owing to a lack of testing, US News reported.

Officials of the Mexican Government welcomed Saturday the shipment's arrival at Toluca Airport, west of Mexico City.

The donated vaccines will be used to inoculate teachers.

In April and May, over 2.7 million teachers received their first vaccines. However, the majority of them were given one dose of the Chinese CanSinoBIO vaccine, which appears to lose potency over time.

Mexico has received more than 200 million vaccination doses and is attempting to reopen its schools. The country tries to return to in-person learning at all levels.

The Secretary of Education, Delfina Gómez, expressed her delight at receiving this donation from Moderna, which would help more boys, girls, and teenagers feel safer and more confident in the classroom.

The donations came after Mexico's approval of the three-shot coronavirus vaccine in Cuba. 

READ ALSO: Mexico Popular Tourist Spots Become Hotspots for Rising COVID Infections

COVID Cases in Mexico Rise During Holidays

After the busy holiday vacation season, coronavirus cases have increased, driven mainly by a large number of people in high-density tourist areas in the states of Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, and Mexico City.

In Mexico City, the number of daily new cases climbed from 276 on December 1 to 3,793 on January 3.

Quintana Roo, another state of Mexico, set a daily case record of 574 cases in March. On December 30, it came near to a record with 562 instances.

According to Mexico's tourism ministry, hotels in the farther south of Los Cabos were at 75 percent of their capacity during the week of Christmas. The waterfront and beaches in La Paz, Baja California Sur's capital, were also filled with tourists. 

Mexico Lenient on COVID-19 Protocols

Mexico is one of the few countries that do not require travelers entering the country to have a negative COVID-19 test. This policy has boosted visitor numbers but incurred public health costs.

The country has kept its borders open; however, traffic at the common border with the United States was restricted to essential movements until November. Travelers were required to fill out a health form at airports, and many were monitoring their temperatures for a period.

Throughout the outbreak, Mexico has been welcoming travelers from around the world. The country has authorized the use of 10 different vaccines and has fully vaccinated 57% of its population.

With the spread of the new and highly contagious omicron variant, COVID-19 cases in Mexico continue to rise.

READ MORE: California Allows Hospitals to Make Asymptomatic COVID-19 Positive Employees to Work in Efforts to Curb Staff Shortage

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

WATCH: Mexico surpasses 300,000 COVID-19 deaths - AlJazeera English