Argentina approves emergency use of AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine

#Argentina on #Wednesday authorized the emergency use of the coronavirus vaccine developed by the #Oxford #University and the #British pharmacist #AstraZeneca. #It thus became the first country in #Latin #America to give the green light to this treatment.

“The mentioned product presents an acceptable benefit-risk balance, allowing to support the granting of the registration and conditional authorization of the product for the requested indication”, according to the resolution of the #National #Administration of #Medicines, #Food and #Medical #Technology (ANMAT).

The authorization was granted for a period of one year, under the condition of its sale under prescription.

The green light from the #South #American country for the #AstraZeneca vaccine came a few hours after the government of #Great #Britain itself authorized its use.

#Read also: #Nurse tests positive for #Covid-19 more than a week after receiving #Pfizer vaccine

#Argentina began immunizing its population on #Tuesday with the #Russian #Sputnik V vaccine, an agreement that raised suspicions due to the lack of information on clinical studies. #Together with #Belarus they are the only nations that apply this treatment at the moment.

#Months ago, the #Alberto #Fernández government signed an agreement to produce the #AstraZeneca vaccine in an alliance that also includes #Mexico. #It will be seen if this agreement accelerates access to this vaccine in the midst of a global dispute in which the least developed countries have the upper hand.

#Several countries are expected to depend on the #Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to its low cost, availability and ease of use. #It can be kept in refrigerators instead of the deep freezers that usually require other vaccines. The company has said it will sell each dose for $ 2.50 and plans to make about 3 billion doses before the end of 2021.

The #Argentine health agency also authorized the #Pfizer vaccine days ago, but there was no agreement between the #Argentine government and the laboratory for its acquisition.

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