Mexico gets second shipment of active substance of COVID-19 vaccine from Chinese firm CanSino

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico on Thursday received a second shipment of the active substance needed to make COVID-19 vaccines from Chinese biopharmaceutical company CanSino Biologics, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said.

The minister said that the flight carrying the material landed early Thursday at Mexico City's international airport.

The cargo was to be transported to a laboratory in the central state of Queretaro, where it would be packaged for future application, the minister said.

The Mexican government sought CanSino's vaccine for its immunization drive because it is a single-dose vaccine, Ebrard said as he announced the arrival of the shipment during a press conference.

Mexico participated in phase 3 clinical trials of the CanSino vaccine, after which the two sides agreed to manufacture it in Mexico, said Ebrard.

The first shipment of the active substance arrived in February and is already being packaged, he said.

"There was a phase 3 in Mexico with 15,000 people (volunteers), the largest we have carried out in our country, because the president of the republic wanted to know how this vaccine works on our genetics, on our population," he added.

The shipments began to arrive after Mexico announced in February that the Federal Commission for the Protection Against Sanitary Risks authorized emergency use of the CanSino vaccine against COVID-19.

The Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry highlighted in a message on Twitter that Mexico and China have strengthened bilateral cooperation against the pandemic.

Mexico, which rolled out its vaccination campaign in December in phases, has reported more than 2.1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection and 192,000 related deaths.