According to Mexico’s foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico will order up to 22 million doses of vaccines from China. The move comes after Joe Biden said he won’t share vaccines with Mexico until a lot of the US population has been vaccinated.

Ebrard said the order for the 22 million doses was facilitated by Mexico’s president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. He added during the press conference that the president personally oversaw the negotiations and that Mexico would be getting an influx of the much-needed vaccines soon. 

Mexico's vaccination program has been delayed due to the lack of available vaccines 

Mexico is currently behind on its vaccination goals, and the rollout has been criticized by health organizations as very slow. Mexican officials said the lack of available vaccines was to blame and that efforts to procure vaccines have been sabotaged due to the lack of available vaccines from the companies manufacturing the doses. 

Mexico had asked the United States to share some of the vaccines it had available, but the Biden administration refused his request. The US administration replied that its current responsibility was to its citizens and that it won’t be able to share vaccines now. Mexico is also facing public distrust about the authenticity of the vaccine.

10 million doses will arrive from China this month

According to Mexico’s foreign minister, Mexico will receive half of the Sinovac vaccine it ordered from China this month, although its delivery might be delayed until May. The remaining 10 million will be delivered around July.

Ebrard also said Mexico will order the Sinopharm vaccine from China once it passes clinical trials. Mexico still hopes that it would receive some vaccines from the United States after the Biden administration achieves its goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans by the end of April, a goal that seems attainable after the approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by the American federal drug administration.