MEXICO CITY — While the United States government continues its race against other countries to develop a coronavirus vaccine, in Mexico, authorities are following a different strategy: They are signing international agreements to guarantee enough supplies once a vaccine is developed. 

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador wants to create a state-owned company to distribute medicine throughout Mexico, including the vaccine.

His administration promises to guarantee and facilitate access to the vaccine to the 120 million people living in Mexico, in an equitable and nonprofit manner.

Mexico’s secretary of foreign affairs has established bilateral agreements with pharmaceutical companies from the U.K., China, Russia and the U.S., among others, to guarantee access to the vaccine.

This week, Mexico signed pre-purchase contracts with three pharmaceutical companies for almost 80 million doses of vaccine, expected to be available between March and August of 2021.