Mexico's long delay of vaccines for Latin America nears end

Mexico’s top diplomat says shipments of a long-delayed lot of AstraZeneca vaccines will finally be sent to Argentina

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico’s top diplomat said Tuesday that shipments of a long-delayed lot of AstraZeneca vaccines will finally be sent to Argentina this weekend. Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said about 800,000 doses will be flown to Argentina. Mexico will get a similar amount, and he expressed hopes that later shipments can be sent to other Latin American countries. The effort to fill and finish the vaccines at a Mexican plant took almost three months longer than originally expected. Ebrard acknowledged Tuesday it had been “a long, complex, hazardous process," adding “we now finally, at last have this vaccine available.”