MEXICO CITY (AP) – The first formally approved batch of coronavirus vaccine to arrive in Latin America was received with ceremonies adapting a VIP on Wednesday – flags, television cameras and cabinet dignitaries lined up along the track in Mexico .
On the other side of the region, Argentina announced that it has approved two vaccines, including one for which it has no distribution agreement and one from Russia.
A DHL flight landed at Mexico City’s international airport and a ground crew unloaded the first batches of deep-frozen vaccines produced by Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech.
“Today is the beginning of the end of this pandemic,” said Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, one of the authorities who came to see the plane land.
The first vaccines were to be given to health professionals in Mexico City and in Saltillo city, starting on Thursday.
There were only 3,000 doses in the first shipment, designed to test logistical procedures.
Shipments of the Pfizer vaccine are scheduled to reach some other countries in Latin America this week and the vaccine candidates from other producers have already arrived in Brazil and some other countries awaiting formal approval by their health authorities.
Mexico expects to receive 1.4 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech product by the end of January.
In Argentina, health officials announced on Wednesday that they had also approved the Pfizer vaccine, although the government has yet to reach an agreement to get it.
But the Ministry of Health said it also approved the Russian Sputnik V vaccine on an emergency basis and officials said an initial batch of 300,000 is expected to arrive Thursday in the country of about 45 million people, which has recorded more than 42,000 deaths from COVID-19.
He referred to Sputnik V as “a safe and effective therapeutic tool”, although the vaccine has met with skepticism even in his country due to a hasty approval procedure.
Russian officials approved the vaccine on August 11, before the final stage tests were completed on its effectiveness and safety.
But although they have announced a mass vaccination campaign, so far it does not include people over 60 and research indicates that many Russians are unwilling to get the vaccine.