MEXICO CITY (Reuters). Mexico’s president cheered a U.S. decision in November to open the border after 18 months of Pandemic Restrictions. But millions of Mexicans have already been inoculated in Chinese and Russian vaccines.

Since March 2020, non-essential travel has been prohibited at the world’s most important land border. This was where almost a million people used to cross each day prior to the outbreak of coronavirus.

Lopez Obrador declared that “the opening of the northern frontier has been accomplished, and we are going to enjoy normality in our northern borders,” during his daily morning press conference.

While the exact date was being worked out by the two countries, it is still unknown when the reopening will take place.

The United States plans to allow only visitors who have been inoculated against vaccines approved by WHO (World Health Organization) to enter the country. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador asked WHO for approval of all COVID-19 vaccinations that are available to public use.

Both businesses and residents on the other side of border were affected by the closing of the 3,144-km (1,954-mile) border. The Baker Institute reported that the Texas border counties suffered a loss of Mexican tourists and shoppers which resulted in $4.9 billion in GDP reductions in 2020.

The 2019 U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency data shows that more than 950,000 immigrants entered the United States via Mexico by foot and in vehicles on a normal day.

U.S. U.S. Last week, U.S. officials stated that international travelers will have to receive U.S.- or WHO-approved vaccines.

Mexico is facing a serious problem because it has used Chinese and Russian vaccines to inoculate millions of its citizens, but they aren’t yet approved by WHO. Lopez Obrador explained that Mexico’s government intends to press WHO to approve other vaccines for public use.

He said, “The WHO should act right, with no political or ideological tendencies and sticking to science.”

According to the foreign ministry, Mexico signed an agreement for Russian Sputnik V vaccinations that will inoculate 12,000,000 people. Another 35 million can be vaccinated with Chinese Cansino vaccines. Both are not yet WHO-approved.

DIPLOMATIC PUMP

Marcelo Ebrard, the Mexican Foreign Minister, stated that the reopening of the border will be accompanied by a push for economic activity in the frontier area. Mexico has done a lot to improve vaccination rates.

According to him, high-level bilateral economic negotiations that will take place in November would be centered on the region’s border. In the coming days, other meetings will take place to discuss details regarding the reopening.

Ebrard stated that Mexico was pushing Washington to open the border, and even made proposals during an American Vice President Kamala Harris visit.

Ebrard stated that the United States had “accepted many of our proposals along the path to this”, but did not give details.