Mexico Approves Indian Covaxin Coronavirus Vaccine for Emergency Use

Regulator Mexico Cofepris approved this Tuesday the emergency use of the vaccine against coronavirus covid-19 Covaxin, made in India, reported Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.

“Very timely decision by Cofepris to authorize the emergency use of the vaccine Covaxin made in India ”, the official said on Twitter. “Options for vaccination against Covid-19 are expanded in Mexico”He added.

Ebrard said that with the new authorization, the country has six approved vaccines against the disease: the Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca, the Chinese CanSino and Sinovac, the American Pfizer, the Russian Sputnik V and Covaxin.

For his part, the Undersecretary of Health, Hugo López-Gatell, in charge of Mexico’s strategy against the coronavirus, said that at the moment there are no plans to acquire the Covaxin vaccine.

“At this time there is no specific plan to acquire this vaccine. However, we have considered that it is pertinent that there are resolutions for the authorization of emergency use, ”he said at a press conference.

The Covaxin vaccine is manufactured by the Indian pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech and is nearly 81% effective.

Mexico, of 126 million inhabitants, began to vaccinate on December 24 the medical personnel who care for covid-19 patients and on February 15 began to immunize people over 60 years old, who number about 15 million in the country, according to official data.

Mexico It is the third in the world with the most fatalities from covid-19 after the United States and Brazil, with just over 200,000 deaths since the virus arrived more than a year ago.