Coronavirus: Astrazeneca approved in Argentina

After Great Britain, Argentina and El Salvador have also approved the corona vaccine from the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca. Argentina’s pharmaceutical authority, Anmat, issued an emergency registry for the sale of the prescription drug on Wednesday, limited to one year. The risk-benefit ratio of the product is acceptable, he said.

A little later, El Salvador’s Central American Medicines Agency, DNM, announced that it had granted emergency approval to import, distribute and use the vaccine. In both Latin American countries, it was initially unclear when the preparation was expected and how many doses they should receive.

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said approval was imminent there as well. In August, the governments of Argentina and Mexico had agreed with the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca that the vaccine, if approved in the two countries, would be manufactured for all of Latin America except Brazil.

Also on Wednesday, the UK drug regulatory agency granted emergency approval of the Astrazeneca vaccine and the University of Oxford. Studies showed that the drug was less effective than the Biontech and Pfizer vaccine, which has already been approved in some countries, including Argentina and Mexico. However, it can be stored with much less effort and is significantly cheaper. According to the British Ministry of Health, it also offers protection against Covid 19 disease after the first of two vaccinations.

It was only on Tuesday that Argentina began having the Sputnik V vaccine developed by Russian researchers. The vaccine was launched in Russia in mid-August and has been used there since the beginning of this month. Last week, Russia and Astrazeneca signed a memorandum to collaborate on vaccine development. (sda / dpa)