Mexico’s Vaccine Pledges Vary Among Officials as Doses Run Low

(Bloomberg) -- Four high-ranking officials in Mexico’s government including the president have different numbers for what the country is supposed to be receiving in Covid-19 vaccine shipments in the coming days.

Pfizer will ship close to 600,000 shots next week, Finance Minister Arturo Herrera told news website Latinus on Thursday. By Friday morning, Deputy Foreign Minister Martha Delgado told a Televisa morning news show Mexico was receiving 491,000 Pfizer shots.

It’s no different for AstraZeneca doses. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Mexico is getting 1 million doses from India this weekend, while Delgado put the figure at 870,000 shots. Earlier this week, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said that shipment was for 500,000 vaccines.

The varying numbers come as Mexico’s vaccination drive has slowed amid a pause in shipments of the Pfizer vaccine. Mexico was first in Latin America to start its inoculation drive in late December, but has suffered setbacks as the pharmaceutical company readjusted its global production. The nation is now in fifth place in the region, lagging Chile, Brazil, Costa Rica and Argentina, with only 0.57 vaccines administered per 100 people, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.

Read More: Mexico Scrambles for Vaccines After Pfizer Delay Slows Campaign

The country has been rushing to ink new vaccine deals to make up for the shortage. Delgado announced Friday that Mexico has bought 10 million doses of the Chinese vaccine Sinovac, which has been widely used in Chile. Mexico recently approved both Sinovac and CanSino for emergency use.

Mexico has administered 725,447 doses of the Pfizer vaccine out of the 766,350 it has received so far. The nation hasn’t gotten ready-to-use vaccines from any other company, although CanSino and Astrazeneca have sent it active substances to make shots.

Mexico reported 171,234 deaths from the virus as of Thursday night, the third most in the world.

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