Mexico City [Mexico], December 12 (ANI/Sputnik): The Mexican Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk (Cofepris) has licensed the coronavirus vaccine developed by the Pfizer-BioNTech duo for emergency use, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez Gatell said on Saturday.

"Cofepris gave an emergency use authorization to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus to prevent the spread of COVID-19," Gatell said at a press conference, broadcast on Twitter.

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Mexico has thus become the fourth country to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use after the United Kingdom, Bahrain and Canada, as stated by the Mexican health official.

The first 250,000 doses of the mRNA-based vaccine are expected to arrive in Mexico by the end of December and be distributed among medical workers. Another 2 million doses will be supplied throughout January and February. Beginning from March, the monthly shipment of doses is expected to increase to 12 million.

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The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine comes with a significant logistical disadvantage, as its storage and transportation conditions require as cold of an environment as -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit). The developers have committed to delivering the vaccine to the Mexican certified vaccination centers on their own. (ANI/Sputnik)

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