Mexico's president thanks Putin for vaccine shipments

Following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, Mexico's president thanked him for the shipment over the next two months of some 24 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for distribution among the Mexican population.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who revealed on Sunday that he was himself infected with COVID-19, nonetheless took the call with Putin. On Twitter, he said he had invited the Russian head of state to visit Mexico during the call.

Earlier on Monday, Mexico's foreign minister said the call meant the country's health officials had Russian government backing for imminent deliveries of Sputnik V.

Lopez Obrador's top aides said the 67-year-old president was feeling well on Monday as he continued to run the government from the national palace.