A medical worker takes a swab sample from a woman for COVID-19 test in Mexico City, Mexico, Aug. 13, 2020.(Photo by Israel Rosas/Xinhua)

 

Mexico will participate in clinical trials of a vaccine being developed by Italy against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Tuesday.

"We are very grateful to Italy," Ebrard said at a press conference, accompanied by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and authorities from the health sector.

Italy's Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases agreed to Mexico's participation in the studies of the GRAd-COV2 vaccine, said Ebrard.

As of Monday night, Mexico reported 60,800 deaths from COVID-19 and 563,705 cases of infection since the first case was confirmed on Feb. 28.