Argentina Signs 22 Million Doses Of AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID Vaccine

JAKARTA - Argentina has signed a contract with drug manufacturer AstraZeneca to bring in around 22 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, which is being developed with the University of Oxford. The first deliveries are scheduled for the first half of next year.

AstraZeneca, one of a number of companies around the world that is developing a vaccine to fight the coronavirus, said in a statement circulated by the government on Saturday that the schedule for the first shipment was dependent on successful trials and regulatory approval.

Argentina, which is starting to see COVID-19 cases in the country rampant, hopes to receive about 10 million doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine and smaller doses of Pfizer's vaccine between December and January.

Argentina is also feeling the devastating shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite implementing a tight lockdown in March. To date, Argentina has recorded 1.23 million cases of COVID-19 with 33,136 deaths.

Regulators have yet to approve of the COVID-19 vaccine, but large-scale trials are ongoing and initial results are expected in November-December.

Argentina is currently helping to produce the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine for the Latin American region.