U.S. Prepares to Send Mexico Moderna, AstraZeneca Vaccines

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. is preparing to send Mexico vaccines from Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc in coming days to bolster its southern neighbor’s fight against Covid-19, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Mexico’s vaccine needs are set to be discussed on a Monday phone call between Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.

Lopez Obrador said at his morning press briefing two weeks ago that Mexico had a new offer for more vaccines from the U.S. after he had requested 5 million vaccines in April, the same month that he received the AstraZeneca vaccination. AstraZeneca shipments were delayed due to problems at manufacturer Emergent BioSolutions Inc. in Baltimore.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday said that it had found certain lots of AstraZeneca’s vaccine drug substance made at the Emergent facility to be acceptable for export after a review of records and the results of quality testing. AstraZeneca’s shot isn’t authorized for U.S. use.

Mexico is among the countries that have been hit hardest by the global pandemic, with almost 250,000 deaths, the fourth-highest total, trailing only the U.S., Brazil and India, according to official statistics. The real toll is likely much higher when considering excess deaths.

Moderna’s vaccine hasn’t yet been approved by Mexico’s regulator. The Biden administration is working with Mexico and Moderna to resolve legal and regulatory issues over the vaccine donation that’s expected to be finalized in coming days, according to one of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard three weeks ago said that he expects Moderna to be approved for use in Mexico “very soon,” noting in a message on Twitter that it has “a similar technological profile” to the Pfizer Inc. vaccine that’s already approved.

Lopez Obrador, known as AMLO, said earlier on Monday that Mexico plans on the call with Harris to request at least 3.5 million doses of vaccines. The president held his daily press briefing in Ciudad Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas. Mexico has been making a push to vaccinate communities in the nation’s north in a bid to persuade the U.S. to reopen an almost 2,000 mile border that’s been shut to non-essential traffic since March of last year.

Read more: Mexico Creates Vaccine Oasis in Bid to Reopen U.S. Border

Harris and Lopez Obrador were expected to discuss the eventual reopening of the border, as well as migration, he said. The latest border closure extension runs through Aug. 21.

President Joe Biden has tasked Harris with leading U.S. efforts to curb a surge in migration from Central America. Border agents in June had more than 180,000 encounters with migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border, the highest monthly total in more than two decades, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Emergent experienced problems after Johnson & Johnson in early March discovered that a batch of drug substance made at the Emergent facility had been contaminated. Further testing and investigation found that Emergent staff mixed up ingredients for the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines. The error led the site to discard 15 million doses worth of an ingredient for the J&J shot.

Mexico at the start of July received 2.9 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses from the U.S. Mexico, together with Argentina, also has pledged to produce as many as 250 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine locally for export to the rest of Latin America with the backing of billionaire Carlos Slim’s foundation. The shots had been expected in the first quarter of the year but ran into production and certification delays, with the first batch shipped in June.

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