Argentina, Mexico reach agreement with British company to produce COVID-19 vaccine

Argentina and Mexico have both reached an agreement with a British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the biotechnology company mAbxience of the INSUD Group to produce AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

This was revealed on Wednesday by Argentine President Alberto Fernandez after a meeting with company executives involved in the project.

He said that the vaccine will be produced for most of Latin America.

The agreement includes transfer of technology to initially produce 150 million doses of the vaccine to supply all of Latin America with the exception of Brazil, according to Fernandez.

“Latin American production will be handled in Argentina and Mexico and that will allow timely and efficient access for all countries in the region,” Fernandez said.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said later on Twitter that the deal had been pushed by Fernandez and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. He said output of the vaccine could extend to 250 million doses.

This came after scientists expressed doubts over President Vladimir Putin’s claims on Russia’s potential Covid-19 vaccine, saying the vaccine still needs critical data to determine whether it’s safe or effective.

Daniel Salmon, director of the Institute for Vaccine Safety at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in a statement on Tuesday said that developing, testing and reviewing any potential vaccine is a long, complex and expensive endeavor that typically takes months or even years.