Argentina In Talks To Simultaneously Test Multiple COVID-19 Vaccines - Health Minister

Argentina in Talks to Simultaneously Test Multiple COVID-19 Vaccines - Health Minister

Argentina is currently in talks to test a number of COVID-19 vaccines at once, Health Minister Gines Gonzalez Garcia said on Thursday, adding that the country was open to new proposals as well

BUENOS AIRES (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th August, 2020) Argentina is currently in talks to test a number of COVID-19 vaccines at once, Health Minister Gines Gonzalez Garcia said on Thursday, adding that the country was open to new proposals as well.

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez said on Wednesday that Argentina and Mexico would start producing the University of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for Latin America. The AstraZeneca laboratory has signed an agreement with the Mexican Slim Foundation to produce 150-250 million doses of the vaccine for Latin America, excluding Brazil. It is believed to be ready in the first half of 2021.

"AstraZeneca is not the only one, we are working with three [pharmaceutical] companies: Pfizer, which is already conducting research here, and a Chinese manufacturer [Sinopharm], which is almost ready to begin clinical trials here," the minister said on air the TN broadcaster.

Garcia added that Argentina was currently working with these three, however, if there came an opportunity to buy another manufacturer's vaccine, the government would do so right away.

In the meantime, Argentina has registered 268,574 COVID-19 cases and 5,213 related deaths.