Mexico’s President Lopez Obrador to Talk Vaccines with Kamala Harris

MEXICO CITY, Aug 8 (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will discuss COVID-19 vaccines with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, amid recent caseload spikes in both nations driven by highly contagious new variants of the coronavirus.

In a speech, the Mexican leader did not provide further details on other subjects he and Harris will discuss on the Monday phone call.

“We’re going to talk on Monday in order to keep working on our joint agenda of collaboration,” said Lopez Obrador.

Harris, a former senator from California, was tapped earlier this year by U.S. President Joe Biden to lead diplomatic efforts with Mexico and several Central American nations focusing in particular on regional migration and economic development.

Lopez Obrador appeared to preview additional U.S. vaccine donations.

“There are commitments for us to have more vaccines, provided by the United States government,” he added, speaking at a new national guard installation in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, just south of Texas.

Lopez Obrador also thanked the U.S. government for an earlier vaccine donation of some 3.5 million doses, and said Mexico is expecting a shipment of 1.35 million additional doses.

The leftist president also praised U.S.-Mexico relations under Biden’s six-month-old administration, describing them as based on “respect for our sovereignty and development cooperation.” (Reporting by David Alire Garcia and Noe Torres; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Alistair Bell)