Mexico City, Mexico — Laboratorios de Biológicos y Reactivos de México (Birmex) will begin to produce the Russian vaccine Sputnik V after the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Russian Fund for Direct Investment.
“This agreement establishes the mechanisms and conditions necessary to carry out the packaging of the vaccine in Mexican territory as well as giving rise to the strengthening of the relationship between our countries,” said the director of Birmex, Pedro Zenteno.
Through social media, Birmex described the agreement as “a great achievement”, and stated that “Sputnik V is here to stay.”
There are already two other vaccines being packaged in Mexico, CanSino Biologics and AstraZeneca. Sputnik V will be the third. Although the Russian vaccine against covid-19 has been approved for emergency use in 70 countries including Mexico, it has not been approved for emergency use in the U.S.
Both the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have not approved the Sputnik V vaccine, but have said they are working with authorities.
Currently, the CDC has an approved covid-19 vaccine list that includes Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson/Janssen.
The World Health Organization has approved Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), Oxford/AstraZeneca, Serum Institute of India – Covishield (Oxford/AstraZeneca formulation), Sinopharm (produced in Beijing not in Wuhan) and Sinovac -CoronaVac for emergency use in the U.S.
Americans residing in Mexico who have been vaccinated with the Sputnik V vaccine will likely have to prove themselves as covid-negative to enter the country since, starting in early November, the U.S. will require proof of vaccination with either CDC or WHO approved vaccines.