U.S. will send 2.5 million AstraZeneca vaccines to Mexico and 1.5 million to Canada

The United States plans to ship 2.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Mexico under loan program, according to Biden administration official.

The Foreign Minister of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard, said on Thursday that it is true that Mexico and the United States have an agreement on vaccines against COVID-19, after, citing a US official, Reuters published that Mexico will receive 2.5 million AstraZeneca vaccines, and Canada will receive 1.5 million.

The United States plans to ship approximately 4 million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine that it is not using to Mexico and Canada in loan agreements with the two countries, a Washington official told Reuters on Thursday.

Mexico will receive 2.5 million doses of the vaccine and Canada will receive 1.5 million doses, the official said.

“This virus has no borders,” the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “We only defeat the virus if we help our global partners.”

The U.S. government has come under pressure from allies around the world to share the vaccine, particularly from AstraZeneca, which is licensed for use in other countries but not yet in the United States.

AstraZeneca has millions of doses manufactured in a facility in the United States and has said it would have 30 million injections ready by the beginning of April.

The agreement to share the vaccine, which is still being finalized, does not affect President Biden’s plans to have the vaccine available to all adults in the United States by the end of May, the official said. The deal is likely to be publicly announced in the next few days.

Two officials assured that the vaccine would be delivered in “a short time” once the agreement is completed, but declined to give a more specific schedule.

The “releasable” vaccines are ready to use once they arrive. Under the agreement, the United States will share doses with Mexico and Canada now, with the understanding that both countries will pay in doses in return. The official said it would take place later this year.

AstraZeneca’s vaccine is not yet licensed in the US, but the Biden Administration has a backlog as the company works to fulfill a US order before possible regulatory approval.

The Ministry of Health reported this Thursday that since December 23, 2020, Mexico has received 8.16 million vaccines against covid-19 in 18 shipments, divided into 32 flights.

Mexico has committed 34.4 million doses of the US vaccine by Pfizer, 79.4 million from the British AstraZeneca, 35 million from the Chinese CanSino, 24 million from the Russian Sputnik V, 20 million from the Chinese Sinovac, 12 million from the Chinese Sinopharm, and 51.4 million of the Covax platform from the World Health Organization (WHO).