why doses of AstraZeneca will always arrive from the United States and not Mexico

The commercial agreement between AstraZeneca and two laboratories in Argentina and Mexico still does not manage to finish curdling, although the first doses against the coronavirus provided for in this contract began to arrive in Ezeiza. For next Monday, another shipment of 934,200 vaccines, but again the origin will be from the United States, as he was able to confirm Bugle from government sources.

Which disadvantage so that vaccines whose active principle is manufactured in Argentina can return packaged by the Mexican laboratory Liomont? According to the sources consulted, “work is underway on the Logistics for delivery ”, with the intention that the vaccines begin to arrive directly from Aztec soil and no longer from Albuquerque, United States.

Sources linked to the Oxford vaccine production process said Bugle that in addition to the batch of almost a million doses next Monday, there could be a new expedition the same week, it takes off from Mexico. This information has not yet been officially confirmed.

How many doses managed to pack and approved the Liomont laboratory? A total of 2,120,800. The first batch of 809,800 doses was released by Cofepris (Mexican Anmat) on May 28; the second, of 834,200 doses, was released on Wednesday, June 9; and the third, of 476,800 doses, this Thursday.

This set of ready-to-use vaccines would be intended for domestic consumption, that is to say on Mexican territory. Recall that the authorities of this country had planned that half of what was produced in the Liomont laboratory would remain for local use and that the rest would be distributed among the countries of South America who have signed contracts with AstraZeneca.

Bugle He had already warned of the possible slowness that the process of packaging and formulation of the vaccine from Oxford in Liomont could have. A guided tour filmed during the month of May showed what looked like a neck in manual and visual inspection in the quality control of the vials. Only seven people observed each vial for 12 seconds to give it the go-ahead and move on to the next.

Once the packaging is complete, the batches are sent to Cofepris (National Commission for the Protection of Sanitary Risks), an organization which must hand them over. final approval vaccines so that they can be marketed. Mexico has acquired AstraZeneca 77.4 million doses. This country also has Pfizer, Cansino and Sputnik vaccines in its portfolio.

Argentina has signed a contract with AstraZeneca for a total of 22.4 million. Of this amount, Ezeiza arrived 843,600 doses May 24 and 2,148,600 the 31st of the same month. With the vaccines which will arrive next Monday at 6:40 am, the country will have received from AstraZeneca a total of 3,926,400 vaccines, it’s almost double which the Mexican regulator has approved.

Cofepris officially reported that the doses approved so far “are part of the national SARS-CoV-2 vaccination policy, for the prevention of COVID-19 in Mexico and organic likely to be sent to other countries as part of the agreement with the company ”. We will have to see what happens with the second part of this statement.

The health agency also indicated that it is attentive to “the receipt of documentation from the company for the following lots”. Cofepris has been a very challenged entity. According to complaints, he was for years the prey of a network of Corruption. At the end of 2020, the Mexican government announced a plan to make this administration transparent.

The plan that was not fulfilled

Delays in the Liomont lab’s packaging process have been the big problem that has postponed the arrival of AstraZeneca vaccines in Argentina. The reason would have been due to a shortage of Provisions for the manufacture of bottles. The production of the active principle is carried out in the Mabxience laboratory, in Garín, in the suburbs of Buenos Aires.

When these delays began to emerge, AstraZeneca asked Mabxience – owned by businessman Hugo Sigman – to divert part of this active ingredient The Albany Molecular Research Inc. (AMRI) laboratory was completed by the pharmaceutical company Albuquerque. It was the alternative to finalize the packaging process. The British laboratory signed the contract with AMRI in September 2020.

This is what allowed Argentina, finally, to start counting before May with the doses promised for March. According to the provisional contract timetable, in July our country had to complete the receipt of all purchased vaccines, which at this point it will no longer be possible. It now remains for Liomont’s production capacity and Cofepris’ lead times to accelerate so that the initial agreement with Argentina can be concluded as planned.

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