Under Rising Death Toll, Mexico Plans To Procure Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccines From India

Mexico's death toll surpasses India and now has the third highest numbers in the world. The Mexican president spoke publicly for the first time on Thursday after revealing last Sunday he had contracted the virus.

New Delhi: On Friday, Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador talked about the plan to import about 870,000 doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine from India in February and also producing it locally.
Argentina and Mexico struck a deal with AstraZeneca to produce its vaccine for distribution in Latin America, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim’s foundation will provide the financial support.

According to Reuters, “We are also getting AstraZeneca vaccines, apart from the agreement we have with them - these vaccines are being made here in Mexico - we will bring AstraZeneca from India,” Lopez Obrador said in a video broadcast on social media.

Mexico now has the world’s third highest recorded deaths, surpassing India. Due to this surge, Mexico is trying to stock vaccines, Lopez Obardor said that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine deliveries to Mexico would “very probably” resume on Feb. 10 according to Reuters. Mexico was expecting about 1.5 million doses from Pfizer, he noted.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced on Sunday he had tested positive for the coronavirus but it was revealed on Thursday that his health was improving.

Mexico would also receive 870,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and six million doses of the CanSino Biologics vaccine. This is in addition to the 1.8 million vaccine doses that would arrive next month through the global COVAX facility. Through COVAX the country has secure vaccines enough for 20 percent of its population.

According to Reuters, on Thursday, Mexico’s health ministry reported 18,670 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and 1,506 additional fatalities, bringing the total number of cases to 1,825,519 and deaths to 155,145.