Mexico City, Aug 19 (IANS) Mexico has authorised the emergency use of the US-manufactured Moderna vaccine against Covid-19, the country's Undersecretary of Prevention and Health Promotion Hugo Lopez-Gatell said.

The Mexican official confirmed on his Twitter account on Wednesday that the Federal Commission for the Protection against Health Risks "issued the authorisation for emergency use of the Moderna vaccine", reports Xinhua news agency.

"We have eight approved vaccines with this one, all safe, quality and effective," Lopez-Gatell said.

Earlier, the Ministry of Health stated that as of Tuesday, 78,765,073 vaccine doses had been administered in the country.

Mexico aims to immunise its residents through a national plan with an investment of about $1.6 billion.

--IANS ksk/