Mexico City, Mexico — The first shipment of Moderna vaccines sent by the United States has arrived in Mexico. The vaccine, which was authorized for emergency use August 18, is one of two shipments expected.
On Tuesday, 1.75 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, donated by the United States, arrived at the Mexico City International Airport. This is the first shipment of a donation of 3.5 million vaccines that the United States government will make to Mexico following a conversation between Vice President Kamala Harris and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on August 9.
The announcement was made by Laboratorios de Biológicos y Reactivos de México (Birmex) and the United States embassy in Mexico on their respective Twitter accounts.
While Birmex highlighted that this is the arrival of the first batch of vaccines from this company, the United States pointed out that the donation of these vaccines is a “further sign of the close collaboration between Mexico and the United States” as friendly neighbors and considered “it crucial to continue the vaccination campaign and protect ourselves against the Delta variant.”
The Secretary of Foreign Relations, Marcelo Ebrard reported the arrival of the Moderna doses from the United States. He also announced that in the first weeks of September, another 4.6 million doses of AstraZeneca are expected.
Moderna has an efficiency rate of 93 percent six months after the second application, and is the seventh vaccine to receive authorization for emergency use in Mexico along with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Cansino, Sputnik V, SinoVac and Johnson & Johnson.