The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia's sovereign wealth fund, said on 23 February 2021 that Mexico, the first country in North America to approve Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, has received its first batch of the vaccine, CNN reported on Tuesday.

In a statement, the RDIF said: "On 3 February 2021, the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risk of Mexico (COFEPRIS) approved Sputnik V under the emergency use authorisation procedure without additional clinical trials in the country."

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the RDIF, said: "it is a significant breakthrough in Russia's efforts to fight COVID-19 and clearly shows that saving lives is above politics."

According to figures from the RDIF, which oversees global distribution and sales of the vaccine, Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine has now been approved for use in more than 30 countries and is one of the world's most pre-ordered vaccines, with at least 50 countries, from Argentina to the Philippines, ordering nearly 2.5 billion doses so far.

A tally by Johns Hopkins University has revealed that Mexico has the third highest death toll in the world, behind the US and Brazil, with more than 180,000 deaths.