FILE PHOTO: A view shows vials during the production of Gam-COVID-Vac, also known as Sputnik-V, vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a facility of BIOCAD biotechnology company in Saint Petersburg, Russia December 4, 2020. REUTERS/Anton Va
MEXICO CITY - Mexico has signed a contract for Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and will likely issue an emergency use authorization for it within hours, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said on Tuesday.
Lopez-Gatell said the contract provided for 7.4 million doses between February and April, with more due in May.
"This gives us an enormous opportunity to accelerate vaccination in Mexico," said Lopez-Gatell, whose country began using the Pfizer vaccine in December.
Mexico is trying to secure as much vaccine supply as possible for its 126 million people following delays of some products amid a global scramble for vaccines.
Latin American nations, including Argentina and Mexico, have shown an early interest in the locking down supplies of the Russian vaccine. In December, the makers of Sputnik V requested to carry out clinical trials in Mexico.
Global interest in Sputnik V was bolstered on Tuesday after peer-reviewed results from its late-stage clinical trial were published in The Lancet international medical journal.
Sputnik V was 91.6% effective in preventing people from developing COVID-19, according results in The Lancet.
Sputnik V, which requires two shots, has also now been approved for storage in normal fridges, as opposed to freezers, according to scientists at the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow that developed and tested the vaccine.
This ease of transportation and distribution has appealed to Mexico, which has hard-to-reach rural areas and a struggling national healthcare system.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week about buying 24 million doses of the vaccine.
Lopez-Gatell met Russian officials and gained access to technical files about the vaccine during a trip to Argentina in January. Argentina started rolling out Sputnik V to healthworkers in December.
Mexico has also struck an agreement for 2 million vaccines produced by Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine producer by volume, in February and March, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday.
