President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Tuesday expressed gratitude towards India for the delivery of additional 870,000 COVID-19 vaccines to fight against the pandemic. A video has been shared online of Mexican President Obrador, where he can be seen addressing a group of journalists and thanking the Indian government for giving consent for additional doses of vaccine to be sent to Mexico.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told a news briefing that the US will send doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, which are slightly more than the 2.5 million US officials had previously indicated.Other Mexican leaders, including Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, were seen in the video, thanking India for sending vaccine doses on short notice. In the video, the general public of Mexico can also be seen expressing their gratitude towards India for sending the jabs. The Mexican government reportedly bought the vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India for $4 per dose. Mexico had started vaccinating health workers and other frontline professionals in December 2020, however, due to a shortage of doses the government struggled to meet its target.
Earlier last month, India sent 5,00,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to Mexico under the “Vaccine Maitri” initiative. However, after the government of Mexico requested additional doses, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar made huge efforts to quickly send 8,70,000 more doses of AstraZeneca vaccine that is being produced in Pune by the Serum Institute of India.
