Covid vaccinations begin in Latin America

Mexico on Thursday inoculated its first person against COVID-19, celebrating a Christmas roll-out that also began elsewhere in Latin America.

The pandemic has so far killed 120,000 people in the country and has badly battered the economy.

Officials directed the administration of the Pfizer vaccine to 59-year-old nurse in a ceremony broadcast on national media and watched by the president.

The government then broadcast the vaccine being given to medical personnel in other parts of Mexico.

Pfizer's is the first COVID-19 vaccine to reach Mexico, which has also signed deals for vaccines from other firms.

Chile received the first 10,000 doses of a 10-million order of Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine on Thursday, with inoculations of health workers due to begin immediately.

In Costa Rica, health workers administered the first doses of Pfizer vaccine to a pair of senior citizens in a home near the capital San Jose, while some 300,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine arrived in Argentina.

No COVID-19 vaccine has been approved yet for use in Brazil, Latin America's most populous country.

In Mexico, the first Pfizer shipment arrived on Wednesday containing only 3,000 doses of the vaccine. The next one will contain 50,000 doses, with Mexico slated to receive 1.4 million units of the two-shot Pfizer vaccine by January 31.

The vaccine roll-out is expected to last months and will initially prioritise Mexican medical staff.