- Mexico is the first country in Latin America and the only one outside of China to fill and finish doses of the CanSino vaccine: Ebrard
- The goal is to be self-sufficient and produce these vaccines ourselves rather than depend on international circumstances.
At this morning's press conference led by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard reported that the first doses of Cansino Biologics vaccine filled and finished in Mexico are now being distributed.
Regarding the CanSinoBio vaccine, the Foreign Secretary said that distribution began yesterday for over 940,000 doses of the vaccine filled and finished at the Drugmex plant in Querétaro. They were made available to the Health Ministry to be administered according to the National Vaccination Plan. He explained that fill-finish operations are very complex and represent 40 percent of the total vaccine manufacturing process. Mexico is the first Latin American country and the only one outside of China to do this for CanSino. He thanked the company and the Chinese government - especially its ambassador Zhu Qingqiao - for their support in carrying out this process.
The secretary stressed that, as instructed by the president, the goal is to move forward with these manufacturing processes in order to be self sufficient and to make the vaccines in Mexico. Mexico has a contract with CanSino for 35 million doses and to date has received enough active ingredient to fill-finish 5 million doses. The CanSino vaccine —which is 65.7% effective against symptomatic cases and 95.47% effective against severe cases— is a single-dose vaccine, an advantage because it will speed up the vaccination process in Mexico.
In addition, since last Tuesday, Mexico has received 667,875 doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and one million doses of the Sinovac vaccine. This week, Mexico will receive 658,125 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, a bulk shipment of 6 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and one million more doses of Sinovac. Upcoming shipments include 632,775 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, 500,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine and 2.7 million ready-to-use doses of AstraZeneca from the United States.
Lastly, Secretary Ebrard announced that, as instructed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the Mexican consulates in Atlanta, Boise, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Orlando, Phoenix, Sacramento, Salt Lake City and Saint Paul have been giving the COVID-19 vaccination to the Mexican communities in those cities with the help of local authorities. He announced that in March and April the consulates in Atlanta, Boise, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Omaha, Raleigh and San José will be giving vaccinations.
To date, about 500 people have been vaccinated at the center opened at Mexico's consulate in Sacramento. Another vaccination center will be inaugurated at the Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego on March 24, in partnership with the county. It will be open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The Foreign Ministry reaffirms its commitment to contributing to universal, timely and equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine, and to ensuring access to COVID-19 vaccines for its citizens abroad, through its consular network.
