Mexico will need up to 200 million coronavirus vaccine doses, according to a senior government official, and inoculation of its 120 million inhabitants could start as early as April 2021 if clinical trials and regulatory approvals for pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca Plc go as planned.
In partnership with the governments of Mexico and Argentina, AstraZeneca initially plans to produce 150 million doses in early 2021 and eventually make at least 400 million doses for distribution throughout Latin America.
AstraZeneca is among those working on COVID-19 vaccine candidates now in development around the world.
Mexico’s government also has said it is considering other options for bringing a vaccine quickly to its population, the second-largest in Latin America.
AstraZeneca will be able to produce between 30 and 35 million vaccines per month, Martha Delgado, a Mexican deputy foreign minister, told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
The vaccine could require two doses to be effective, Delgado said.
“If we need 200 million, we’re going to be vaccinating for a long time,” Delgado added.
Last-stage so-called Phase III trials are expected to conclude by November or December, after which AstraZeneca will seek government approvals if the vaccine is found to be safe and effective.
If that goes smoothly, Delgado estimated the first vaccines in Mexico could be administered in April.
Mexico’s death toll of 55 908 stands as the world’s third highest, behind the United States and Brazil. Latin America’s 6 million cases and more than 237 000 deaths make it the world’s hardest-hit region.
