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By Anthony Esposito and Adriana Barrera
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico will want up to two hundred million doses of the coronavirus vaccine, according to a senior government official, and the inoculation of its 120 million citizens could begin as early as April if clinical trials and regulatory approvals for pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca Plc goes a long way.
In partnership with the governments of Mexico and Argentina, AstraZeneca first plans to produce 150 million doses until early 2021 and eventually manufacture at least 400 million doses for distribution in Latin America. AstraZeneca is one of those that is running on applicants for the COVID-19 vaccine lately in progression around the world.
The Mexican government also said it is considering other characteristics to temporarily bring a vaccine to its population, the largest of the moment in Latin America.
AstraZeneca will produce between 30 and 35 million vaccines according to the month, Martha Delgado, Mexico’s deputy foreign minister, told Reuters in an interview On Friday.
The vaccine may require two doses to be effective, Delgado said.
“If we want two hundred million, we’ll vaccinate for a long time,” Delgado added.
The so-called final Phase III trials are expected to be completed until November or December, after which AstraZeneca will seek government approval if the vaccine proves effective. If this goes well, Delgado estimated that the first vaccines in Mexico could occur in April.
The death toll in Mexico of 55,908 is the third highest in the world, the United States and Brazil. The 6 million cases and more than 237,000 deaths in Latin America make it the hardest-hit region in the world.
To ensure that all Mexicans have a vaccine, the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is in talks with other pharmaceutical corporations at other stages of vaccine development.
“Astra’s production will be enough for Mexico. We want to supplement this with a few more vaccines,” Delgado said.
The Mexican government has signed memos with French drug manufacturer Sanofi, Johnson and Johnson’s Janssen unit and Chinese corporations CanSino Biologics Inc and Walvax Biotechnology Co Ltd.
CanSino and Walvax are interested in generating a vaccine in Mexico for delivery to the Latin American market.
The Mexican fitness government is comparing the Phase I and II clinical trials of these 4 corporations and will determine the feasibility of Phase III studies in Mexico in the coming weeks, Delgado said. Pre-phase trials are an initial check of the protection and efficacy of a vaccine in a small number of subjects.
To save time, Mexico’s federal fitness regulator, COFEPRIS, will begin analyzing AstraZeneca’s completed studies and increase approvals if Phase III is successful.
“This is the country’s strategy to diversify our opportunities to access the vaccine as temporarily as can be imagined in Array… and obviously at an affordable cost to the country,” Delgado said.
(Report through Anthony Esposito and Adriana Barrera; Edited through Will Dunham)