The first COVID-19 vaccine doses from U.S. pharmaceutical firm Pfizer Inc will arrive in Mexico on Wednesday, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday, paving the way for their application in the country.
"This first shipment to Mexico has already been picked up at Pfizer's plant in Belgium, it arrives tomorrow," Ebrard told reporters at a regular news conference. "We think it will be touching down in Mexico before noon."
The second shipment is scheduled to depart next Tuesday, and continue week by week, Ebrard said. By the end of January, Mexico will have received 1,417,659 doses, he said.
Pfizer's is the first of various COVID-19 vaccines due to reach Mexico, whose government has in the past few days pressed companies to honor their delivery contracts on time amid growing concerns of delays setting in.
Medical staff are due to be the first recipients of the vaccine, then senior citizens, followed by people with chronic illnesses, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday.
(Reporting by Diego Ore and Mexico City newsroom; Writing by Anthony Esposito and Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Dave Graham)
