The first batch of formally approved COVID-19 vaccines to arrive in Latin America was met at Wednesday’s VIP response ceremonies: flags, television cameras and dignitaries lined up on the runway.
A DHL flight went down at Mexico City International Airport and a ground crew dropped the first bags of super-cold vaccines made by Pfizer and BioNTech.
“Today is the beginning of the end of that pandemic,” said Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, one of the officers who came to watch the plane.
Mexico expects to receive 1.4 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech product by the end of January.
Mexico’s first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrive at Benito Juarez International Airport, Mexico City, Mexico [Edgard Garrido/Reuters]
The first vaccinations were due to be given to health workers in Mexico City and the northern city of Saltillo starting Thursday.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said he will press for the vaccine to be used in more areas as officials try to reach staff at nearly 1,000 hospitals treating coronavirus patients on across the country.
Older citizens and people with breast diseases are expected to be the next line to receive vaccines.
Mexico has recorded a total of 1.3 million COVID-19 infections and 119,495 deaths associated with the disease, the fourth highest death toll in the world.
Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, on the right, and Health Minister Jorge Carlos Alcocer, left documents after the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Mexico [Edgard Garrido/Reuters]
Shipments of the Pfizer vaccine are expected to reach some Latin American countries this week and vaccine candidates from other producers have arrived in Brazil and some other countries awaiting formal approval from their health authorities.
The Brazilian Ministry of Health expects at least 150 million doses of vaccines against COVID-19 to be available in the first half of 2021, with a third or more coming from a Chinese company.
Arnaldo Medeiros, a health ministry official, said at a conference hearing Tuesday that an initial contract to receive 46 million doses of vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech in China could be expanded to 100 million doses.
The Sao Paulo state government’s Butantan Institute is expected on Wednesday to present data from their late trial of the Sinovac vaccine, called CoronaVac, which has already begun to roll out their filling and finishing production line.
President Jair Bolsonaro had seized on that vaccine, citing doubts about his “origin” and trading barrels with politically rival Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria. But the Ministry of Health has been keen to get supplies off as the global drive for vaccines heats up.
The federal government’s Fiocruz biochemical plant is also expected to begin completing and completing the AstraZeneca vaccine in the coming months, delivering the first shots on Feb. 8. The ministry expects 104 million doses by June, officials said.
Separately, the ministry is in talks with Pfizer to receive eight million doses of the vaccine it developed with BioNTech in Germany in the first half of 2021.
The COVID-19 vaccine has not yet been approved for use in Brazil.
The Brazilian Ministry of Health expects at least 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to be available in the first half of 2021, with a third or more coming from a Chinese company [Pilar Olivares/Reuters]
Also on Wednesday, Argentina issued an emergency permit for Russia’s use of the Sputnik COVID-19 vaccine, the health ministry said in a statement, to become the third country after Russia and Belarus approved the vaccine.
The first doses of Sputnik were expected to reach Argentina in the coming days, officials in both countries said. Some 42,254 people in Argentina have died from COVID-19 so far, official data show.
“The result strikes an appropriate balance of benefits and risks,” said a statement from the Argentine National Administration of Medicine, Food and Medical Technology, or ANMAT.
Some Western scientists have raised concerns about the speed at which Russia has been operating, giving its vaccines regulatory permission and launching major vaccines before full safety tests have been carried out. and to prove the efficacy of Sputnik V. Russia says the criticism is unfounded.
Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s RDIF sovereign wealth fund, told Reuters that Argentina would receive 300,000 doses of the Sputnik vaccine on Thursday. He said it was one of the largest fleets in Latin America of any vaccine.
“This is a very important step. We think this is good news for Argentina for Christmas. We should all try to help each other with the situations, ”said Dmitriev.
There was strong demand for Sputnik from other Latin American countries, Dmitriev said, adding that he expected more news about Sputnik’s delivery to the region in January.