UPDATE - Mexican Lab to Produce 90 Mln Doses of Russia's Sputnik V Coronavirus Vaccine Annually

MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th April, 2021) The Mexican laboratory for biological agents and reagents, Birmex, which plans to bottle and package Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, has estimated its potential production volume at 90 million doses of the vaccine per year.

"The country will begin mass packaging of the Sputnik V vaccine, which, according to our estimates, will be produced in the amount of about 90 million doses per year," the laboratory said on its website.

The company is currently preparing and installing a new production line at the facilities of Mexico's National Institute of Virology and National Institute of Hygiene of Mexico. With the commissioning of the line, Birmex expects to cover the domestic market demand for vaccine packaging and enter the international market as their supplier.

Russia's Sputnik V vaccine was approved for use in Mexico on February 2, and the first batch was delivered on February 22.

The immunization program for the Mexican population began at the end of December 2020 with the staff of coronavirus hospitals. For these purposes, the authorities use five different vaccines, which are purchased abroad or produced locally, receiving the active component from biolaboratories - Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford/AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Cansino and Sputnik V.

According to the Secretariat of Health, over 22 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to Mexico, of which 17 million have already been distributed among citizens. More than 6 million people have been fully vaccinated.