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Mexico expected to permit Sputnik V use in coming days

According to the country's deputy minister, Mexico will begin Sputnik V deliveries only after the use of the vaccine is authorized

MEXICO, January 27. /TASS/. The Mexican authorities are expected to issue a permission for the use of Sputnik V vaccine on the country’s territory in the coming days, the country’s Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell told reporters.

"A technical unit <…> of the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk, the New Molecules Committee, has issued a recommendation to register it. The most important stage has been successfully completed, only minor issues remain to be solved in order to issue a passport [for the vaccine]," he said.

According to the deputy minister, Mexico will begin Sputnik V deliveries only after the use of the vaccine is authorized.

Once the permission is obtained, the country can use national Air Force planes to bring the vaccine from Russia.

Mexico hopes to receive 24 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V anti-coronavirus vaccine within the next two months, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday after phone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Since February 2020, Mexico has reported over 1.77 million confirmed coronavirus cases and over 152,000 coronavirus-associated deaths. More than 1.32 million patients have recovered. The Mexican president tweeted on Sunday evening he had contracted the novel coronavirus infection. He noted he was having minor symptoms and was optimistically-minded.

A vaccination campaign among medical personnel kicked off in Mexico on December 24. By now, around 630,000 doses of the Pfizer-manufactured vaccine have been used.