Mexico to receive over 20M COVID vaccine doses

By Jorge Antonio Rocha

MEXICO (AA) - Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced Wednesday that the country will receive over 20 million vaccine doses via the COVAX facility, which are expected to arrive before midnight.

An agreement in which Mexico secured over 50 million vaccine doses from the facility was announced at a press conference in late February, with Ebrard expressing concern over COVAX's lack of fulfillment.

"COVAX has not delivered a single vaccine, and 51.5 million doses were purchased for 25.75 million people. Today, we expect that they will tell us when they are going to deliver them because December, January and February have already passed. It is the only instrument [for securing worldwide vaccine distribution]. We are concerned that it is taking time, and at the same time, the purchase of more doses is being announced by the countries that are hoarding,” he said.

As of Tuesday, Mexico had administered 15 million vaccine doses since the start of its vaccination campaign and over 4 million second doses.

Wednesday’s announcement comes amid a controversy over fake Pfizer vaccines being administered in Mexico.

According to The Wall Street Journal, over 80 doses of distilled water were administered at a clinic in the state of Nuevo Leon in northern Mexico for around $1,000 per shot.

Authorities have apprehended six people. Those affected have not shown signs of any health complications.

Mexico has an estimated 2,504,076 cases, 213,597 confirmed deaths and over 1.76 million recoveries, according to the Health Ministry.