First batch of Russia's Sputnik V shot is delivered to Mexico
Mexico, the first country in North America to approve Russia’s coronavirus shot, has received its first batch of the vaccine, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said Tuesday.
Video posted on Twitter by Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard shows the delivery of the Sputnik V vaccine in a cargo area of an airplane after landing in Mexico.
“On February 3, 2021 the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk of Mexico (COFEPRIS) approved Sputnik V under the emergency use authorization procedure without additional clinical trials in the country,” the RDIF said in a statement.
"It is a significant breakthrough in Russia’s efforts to fight COVID-19 and clearly shows that saving lives is above politics," Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the RDIF, told CNN.
Sputnik V has now been approved for use in more than 30 countries and is one of the world’s most pre-ordered vaccines, with at least 50 countries, from Argentina to the Philippines, ordering nearly 2.5 billion doses so far, according to figures from the RDIF, which oversees global distribution and sales of the vaccine.
Mexico has the third highest death toll in the world, behind the United States and Brazil, with more than 180,000 fatalities, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.
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