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Summary
- The Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC and Oxford University has received Emergency Use Approval (EUA) from the health regulator of Mexico, Cofepris
- The availability of the vaccine could be expected in March.
The AstraZeneca PLC (LON: AZN) and Oxford University vaccine has received Emergency Use Approval (EUA) from Cofepris, the health regulator of Mexico, in an attempt to control the rising coronavirus cases in the country. This news was announced by Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard on Monday.
Ebrard tweeted that the emergency approval of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine has come as a very good news, and the production of the vaccine is all set to start soon in Mexico.
The Mexican Government has entered into an agreement with the British pharma major AstraZeneca to buy 77.4 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine.
Deputy health minister of Mexico Hugo Lopez-Gatell tweeted that the availability of the vaccine can be expected in March. In a conference, Lopez-Gastell explained further that the production capacity would be specified by the private entities that work on it.
The authorisation of the Covid-19 vaccine AZD1222, developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, in Mexico comes after it records one of the highest Covid-19 death tolls in the world. Mexico has been one of the hardest hit nations of the world and has reported around 1.4 million cases arising from the deadly Covid-19 disease and more than 127,000 deaths till now.
(Image source: ©Kalkine Group 2020)
The AZD1222 vaccine has been making headlines after it was approved by the UK regulator Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for emergency use in the country. After becoming the first country to begin with the inoculation programme, Britain also became the first country to approve the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Related Read: Britain begins mass vaccination of AstraZeneca shots
The vaccine has a 70 per cent efficacy. The Mexican government had hailed Britain’s authorization which came a few days before on 30 December.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is not the only vaccine to be approved in Mexico. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has already begun with the vaccination programme for masses from 24 December.
The priority of inoculation of Pfizer vaccine has been given to the health workers. The Mexican Government has said that around one-fourth of the workers, approximately 30,000 workers, has received the first shot of the vaccine on 2 January.
