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(Adds detail on AstraZeneca vaccine)
MEXICO CITY, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Mexican President Andres
Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday the government aimed to
compensate for a reduction in deliveries of COVID-19 vaccine
doses from Pfizer Inc with those from other providers.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday it was in
advanced talks with Pfizer about including its vaccine in the
agency's portfolio of shots to be shared with poorer countries.
Mexico had been expecting weekly deliveries of some 400,000
doses of the Pfizer vaccine developed with Germany's BioNTech SE
. As a result of the U.S. drugmaker's WHO agreements,
Mexico would for now only be receiving half that total, Lopez
Obrador told a regular news conference.
It was not clear how long the reduction would last. Pfizer
did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is currently the only one being
administered in Mexico, which has reported the fourth-highest
death toll from the pandemic worldwide.
Mexico has also signed deals to acquire vaccines from
Britain's AstraZeneca Plc and China's CanSino Biologics
. Mexico has approved the AstraZeneca shot and expects
to have it by March. It is still reviewing the CanSino vaccine.
Mexico is due to make the AstraZeneca vaccine, and Foreign
Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter that the active
ingredient would on Monday be sent to Mexico from Argentina,
allowing manufacturers to start the final packaging process.
Mexico said it also expects to approve the Sputnik V vaccine
for use soon, though it is likely to acquire fewer doses than it
had previously suggested.
Mexico suffered a setback to its drive to inoculate the
public with the news over the weekend that the official in
charge of the program, Miriam Veras Godoy, had stepped down for
personal reasons, according to the health ministry.
(Reporting by Raul Cortes
Editing by Bill Berkrot and Nick Zieminski)
