Mexico approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, hoping to spur a halting vaccination effort that has only given about 44,000 shots since the third week of December, about 82 per cent of the doses the country has received.

Prior to this, the Pfizer vaccine was the only one approved for use in Mexico. Mexican regulators approved the AstraZeneca shot.

Assistant Health Secretariat Hugo Lpez-Gatell said he erroneously reported approval for Chinese vaccine maker CanSino, noting it had not yet submitted full study results for safety and efficacy, according to AP.

"Mexico has pinned much of its hopes on the inexpensive, one-shot CanSino vaccine. It will makes things a lot easier for us," Lpez-Gatell said.