Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcel Ebrard on Monday said that the country would soon begin Phase III trials of the COVID-19 vaccine by France's Sanofi and Chinese Walvax. Ebrard reported that Mexico's health regulator Cofepris on Monday approved trials for the Sanofi (SASY.PA) vaccine.
In a virtual meeting, Ebrard said, "In Mexico, phase three of very diverse vaccines have already been carried out or are being carried out. Two new phases three (trials) are about to start… one is Walvax, which is a Chinese vaccine.. and today they notified us via Cofepris, (the other is) Sanofi, with a recombinant protein."
Meanwhile, Ebrard informed that Mexico's own COVID-19 vaccine 'Patria' will enter Phase II trial soon. The government has said that the vaccine may be approved for emergency use this year. The vaccine is being developed with technology from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and a HexaPro protein developed by the University of Texas at Austin.
On the other hand, the US State Department warned its citizens not to travel to Japan and Sri Lanka. On Monday, the US State Department said, "This week, the following Travel Advisories assessed and reissued with updates. Raised to a Level 4 – Do Not Travel: Japan, Sri Lanka."
The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a new alert said that Americans should avoid all travel to Japan and have anyone vaccinated before traveling there. It added, "Because of the current situation in Japan even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants and should avoid all travel to Japan."