Mexico approves two COVID-19 vaccines CanSino and CoronaVac

Mexican regulators, on February 10, gave emergency approval to two new COVID-19 vaccines- CanSino Biologics and CoronaVac. The approval of the two Chinese developed vaccines was announced by deputy health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell and comes as Mexico struggles to control the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. As of now, the Latin American nation has reported 1,957,889 cases and 169, 760 fatalities, as per the latest official tally.

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Speaking at a press conference, Lopez-Gatell, who serves as the spokesman for the government's pandemic coordination, said, "I have given the authorization for emergency use of both vaccines.” As per a report by Bloomberg, CanSino Biologics Inc.’s experimental coronavirus vaccine has an efficacy rate of 65.7 per cent at preventing symptomatic cases. While Phase III trial data for CoronaVac has shown it is 50.65 per cent efficient.

Three already approved vaccines 

Mexico, which in December became the first Latin American nation to approve a vaccine has previously given emergency use approval to Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca/Oxford and Russia's Sputnik V vaccines. The first shipment of the active ingredient in the British-Swedish AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Mexico in January, and it is expected to be ready for local use and shipment throughout Latin America by March.

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Read: Mexico Approves Sinovac And CanSino Vaccines

Mexico has only vaccinated some 84,500 people so far, all health workers, a figure that is still a small percentage in a country of 126 million people and where COVID-19 has left more than 169,000 deaths and 1.9 million cases. Authorities consider the CanSino vaccine as crucial for the national program, as it only requires one dose and does not require storage at sub-zero temperatures, Associated Press reported.

(Image source: AP)