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 Reuters reported this week that Mexico had asked for extra shipments
of the British-developed vaccine, since it has yet to be approved
for use in the United States.
"I'd say we've made good progress, but the details, figures,
provisions, won't be known until Friday," Mexican Foreign Minister
Marcelo Ebrard told reporters on Tuesday morning. "We requested as
many (AstraZeneca doses) as possible."
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador asked U.S. President
Joe Biden for a vaccine "loan" during a virtual meeting on March 1,
after Mexico's vaccine strategy was knocked off course by slow
deliveries from Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE.
"We are hoping for the help, support and solidarity of the U.S.
government," Lopez Obrador told a regular news conference on Tuesday
alongside Ebrard. He added that people in Mexico over 60 will be
vaccinated by the end of April, a month later than previously
planned.
A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said
the U.S. priority is to vaccinate Americans.
"If we have surplus vaccines from that effort we will look for ways
to share them," the person said, without addressing whether the U.S.
government would respond to Mexico by Friday.
Asked if U.S. officials will reply by Friday and if they might be
softening their stance on sharing doses, a U.S. Department of State
spokesperson declined to answer but instead stressed ongoing
collaboration.
"We have been working on vaccine clinical trials with science and
public health experts in Mexico to evaluate the safety and efficacy
of a promising COVID-19 vaccine(s)," the spokesperson said in a
brief statement, adding that the U.S. would continue collaborating
with Mexico on "all aspects" of pandemic response.
Biden on Tuesday said the United States is in talks with several
countries about who could receive any extra doses of COVID-19
vaccines.\
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 "We're talking with several
countries already," Biden told reporters when
asked. "I'll let you know that very shortly."
Canadian Procurement Minister Anita Anand said
Canada's ambassador to the United States is in
talks with the Biden administration over its
supply of unused doses. "On the
subject of these additional AstraZeneca doses ... I am in close
touch with Ambassador (Kirsten) Hillman, and we together are engaged
with the U.S. administration on this very issue," Anand told CTV on
Sunday.
AstraZeneca is aware of the discussions over possible donations of
its vaccines belonging to the U.S. government, a company
spokesperson told Reuters.
"We've asked the U.S. government to give thoughtful consideration to
these requests," the spokesperson added.
The push by Mexico and Canada to obtain extra AstraZeneca doses
comes as several countries, including Germany, Italy and France,
have suspended vaccinating people with the product amid concerns
over blood clots.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said there was no indication
that the relatively tiny number of blood clot incidents in
vaccinated people had been caused by the AstraZeneca shot, but that
experts were assessing that possibility.
(Reporting by Anthony Esposito and Raul Cortes Fernandez in Mexico
City; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington, David
Ljunggren in Ottawa, Sharay Angulo in Mexico City and Julie
Steenhuysen in Chicago; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel, Aurora Ellis,
Bill Berkrot and Cynthia Osterman)
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