MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -China’s CanSino Biologics Inc will submit the results of clinical trials for its COVID-19 vaccine to Mexican authorities next week, a top health official said on Tuesday, marking another step toward its potential approval in the country.
Mexico began importing vaccines from Pfizer last week and has inoculated 18,529 healthcare workers so far. It also has an agreement to buy vaccines from CanSino, once the vaccine is approved.
The company was due to submit the vaccine for review last week.
“We hope the evidence indicates that it’s a safe product,” Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell told a nightly news conference. “If that’s the case, we would have 2 million doses in January.”
He said 9,000 people are participating in CanSino’s clinical trial in Mexico.
Mexico on Tuesday reported 990 more deaths, one of the pandemic’s highest daily increases, bringing the death toll to 123,845. The country also registered another 12,099 infections, pushing the overall tally to 1,401,529.
The government says the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.
(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Adriana BarreraEditing by Dave Graham and Leslie Adler)
