Mexico has signed an agreement with Pfizer to acquire 34.4 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, the country’s health ministry announced in a tweet on Wednesday.
The health ministry said it expects to receive 250,000 doses in the month of December and will prioritize vaccinating health care workers.
This morning, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that the total amount of money available to buy the doses of the Pfizer vaccine is $20,000 million pesos, while ensuring that it will be next week when the Undersecretary of Health, Hugo López- Gatell, announce the vaccination plan against Covid-19 in Mexico.
“We are reviewing everything related to the vaccine daily, yesterday I did not want to specify more in my report because I do not want to generate false expectations in such a delicate matter, in addition, we are interested in having the vaccine as soon as possible,” he said.
“We already have agreements with pharmaceutical companies and governments of other countries, we are doing well, the entire vaccination plan is in place from the moment the vaccine is available. Dr. Hugo López-Gatell will announce the plan next Tuesday morning,” López Obrador said at a press conference.
“Who is going to be vaccinated first? That is the plan that Dr. Alcocer and Hugo López-Gatell will present on Tuesday, they already have a plan; from where the vaccines are going to be applied, everything that has to do with refrigeration in the case of this vaccine that requires low temperatures; and everything also that is being done with other pharmaceutical companies, CanSino, from China, and the others as well, ” said the Mexican president.
Moments later, the Secretary of Foreign Relations, Marcelo Ebrard, announced through his Twitter account that the vaccination was about to start this December.
“The UK authorizes the vaccine developed by Pfizer. In Mexico, the regulatory authority (Ministry of Health-Cofepris) already has the corresponding request. What many assumed impossible is now a reality: vaccination is about to start in December 2020,” he wrote.
On Tuesday night, Hugo López-Gatell, announced that the contract with Pfizer would include provisions to minimize the challenges associated with the technology of its vaccine, which requires a cold chain of -70 degrees Celsius.
Last week, during a press conference, Paola Fontanelli, director of corporate communication for Pfizer Mexico, said that she would help the health authorities in this task.
According to Fontanelli, the pharmaceutical company is working “closely with the government” to resolve this issue and highlighted Pfizer’s experience in managing the cold chain for vaccines. “We are ready to be able to support distribution and logistics,” she said.
Mexico has signed an agreement with Pfizer to acquire 34.4 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, the country’s health ministry announced . . .
