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The federal government has struck a deal with US pharmaceutical company Pfizer to purchase more than 34 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, the first 250,000 of which are expected to arrive in Mexico this month.
The Ministry of Health announced on Twitter that Health Minister Jorge Alcocer signed an agreement with Pfizer on Wednesday to manufacture and supply 34.4 million doses of the vaccine developed with Germany’s BioNTech. The vaccine was 95 percent effective in phase 3 studies and caused no serious safety concerns, Pfizer said in November.
“The expectation is to receive 250,000 doses this month to protect Mexicans,” the health ministry said, adding that inoculation by health workers will be a priority.
President López Obrador said Wednesday that the government had set aside 20 billion pesos (just under $ 1 billion) for an initial purchase of Covid-19 vaccines, adding that Mexico has purchase agreements with companies other than Pfizer.
“The authorization process a [health regulator] Cofepris is simplified, “he said.
Mexico’s deal with Pfizer comes on the same day UK regulators granted emergency clearance for the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. The launch in the UK, the first Western nation to approve a Covid-19 vaccine, will begin next week, with priority given to the elderly and their caregivers.
Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard acknowledged the UK’s approval in a Twitter post and said that Cofepris has already received an application for authorization here.
“The UK has authorized the vaccine developed by Pfizer. In Mexico the regulatory authority (Ministry of Health-Cofepris) already has the corresponding question. What many people imagined was impossible is now a reality: vaccination is about to start in December 2020, “he wrote.
Ebrard said last week that Pfizer would be responsible for transporting the vaccines – which must be kept at -70 ° C – to the point where they will be administered while the health ministry is responsible for inoculating.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell, the government’s coronavirus chief, said on Tuesday that the military would assist in the vaccination process.
The vaccines ordered will be enough to inoculate 17.2 million people as each person must be given two shots 21 days apart. With only 250,000 doses expected to arrive this month, only 125,000 Mexicans – about 0.1% of the population – will be able to be vaccinated by the end of the year.
However, the news that a vaccine is on the way is undoubtedly good news for Mexico, which has been hit harder by the pandemic than most other countries in the world.
The accumulated case count rose to 1,122,362 on Tuesday with 8,819 new cases reported by the Ministry of Health. The total is the 11th highest in the world, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Another 825 Covid-19 victims recorded by health authorities brought the official death toll from the Mexican pandemic to 106,765, the fourth highest in the world after the United States, Brazil and India.
The case count and death toll are believed to be much higher because Mexico has not tested Covid-19 extensively.
Source: El Economista (sp), CNN (en)
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