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Mexico Grants Emergency Approval to AstraZeneca-Oxford Coronavirus Vaccine

VOA News

   Mexico has become the latest nation to approve the COVID-19 vaccine
   jointly developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca
   and Oxford University.

   Foreign minister Marcelo Ebrard announced the "very good news" that the
   government had granted emergency approval for the vaccine Monday on
   Twitter, adding that "production will start very soon in Mexico." The
   AstraZeneca vaccine joins the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as the only ones
   so far approved by Mexico City.

   Late-stage clinical trials of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine revealed
   it to be 70% effective against COVID-19. The vaccine had a 62% efficacy
   rate for participants given a full two doses, but separate tests
   revealed it to be 90% effective when given a half-dose followed by a
   full dose weeks later.

   Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which needs to be stored in
   super-cold refrigerators at temperatures below 70 degrees Celsius, the
   newly approved vaccine can be stored at normal temperatures of 2 to 8
   degrees Celsius, making it easier to transport and administer to people
   in poorer and remote nations.

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