Mexico turns to China for vaccine aid after cold shoulder from Washington

One week after Mexican President Andrés Manuel “AMLO” López Obrador discussed the potential of sharing vaccines with U.S. President Joe Biden, the deal appears to be upended for the time being. The U.S. government will focus its efforts on vaccinating its own population in the short term. 

In response, Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the country will turn to China for 22 million vaccine doses to avoid shortages in its already-delayed vaccination program. As of March 8, a little more than 2.7 million people have received a vaccine. 

Mexico is Latin America’s second-biggest country, with 128 million inhabitants. The government plans to vaccinate 15 million Mexicans by April.

During a press conference, Mr. Ebard confirmed that 22 million jabs are expected to arrive in the coming weeks. The government has received over 5.2 million vaccines from four different labs.

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