MEXICO CITY: Mexico's government on Wednesday hailed Britain's approval of a coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, and said that Mexican authorities were also close to authorizing its deployment.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told a regular news conference that news of the British approval of the vaccine was very "reassuring." Mexico is helping to produce AstraZeneca's vaccine and has agreements to receive doses from March.

Later, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter that Mexican authorization of the vaccine was "imminent."