Mexico becomes 4th nation to approve use of Pfizer virus vaccine
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -- Mexico on Friday evening approved emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTec coronavirus vaccine, becoming the fourth country to do so.
Mexico’s medical safety commission approved its' use, which had already been cleared in Britain, Canada and Bahrain.
Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell said Mexico is set to receive 250,000 doses of the vaccine, enough for 125,000 people.
He said that front-line health workers will get the shots first. Vaccinations are expected to begin as soon as next week.
López-Gatell said the approval “is of course a reason for hope,” though the initial rounds of shots are not nearly enough for Mexico’s health-care workforce.
He said all acquisitions of vaccines would be at the federal level, and that individual state governments could not purchase their own.
Mexico has seen a total of 1,217,126 test-confirmed coronavirus cases and 112,326 confirmed deaths, although official estimates of deaths are closer to 150,000.
Across the border from El Paso, the Mexican state of Chihuahua's total number of accumulated cases to date is 41,730 with 3,900 deceased persons. In Ciudad Juárez, infections total 23,586 with 2,291 deaths.
