Mexico Ready To Begin COVID-19 Vaccination in December

Mexico's Federal Government on Tuesday announced that it could start vaccination against COVID-19 in December if regulatory institutions certify the effectiveness of the drugs.

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"We strongly wish that Pfizer and CanSino have submitted all the important documentation on the safety and efficacy of their vaccines so they get the sanitary registration on time and can be used immediately," the Health Undersecretary Hugo Lopez-Gatell said and confirmed that his country closed pre-purchase agreements for Chinese, U.S., and British vaccines.

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, who is in charge of the international strategy to buy vaccines, said that the Pfizer vaccine is expected to be approved on December 10 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Regarding the CanSino vaccine, he said that 15,000 Mexican volunteers are expected for the third phase of its certification.

The Mexican diplomat also mentioned that the AstraZeneca vaccine does not present serious side effects and that "we are on time" for its certification, production, and distribution in Latin America.

Mexico participates in the COVAX Initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO), which will give it access to several vaccines, including the Moderna's vaccine, which has an effectiveness of 94.5 percent.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s administration aims to vaccinate 130 million Mexicans for free in 2021. 

With 101,926 deaths and 1,049,358 COVID-19 cases, Mexico is the fourth country in the world with the highest number of accumulated deaths, behind the United States, Brazil, and India.