Mexico has granted emergency use approval to COVID-19 vaccines developed by China's Sinovac Biotech and CanSino Biologics, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said on Wednesday.

Mexico has officially registered around 2 million COVID-19 cases along with nearly 170,000 related deaths, the third highest in the world. In this backdrop, officials in Latin America's second-largest economy are hoping to source millions of doses from China to boost their vaccination efforts.

Earlier in the day, China's CanSino Biologics said its COVID-19 vaccine was approved in Mexico for emergency use in people 18 years and older, Reuters reported.

"The emergency use authorization has already been granted, also for Sinovac or CoronaVac," Lopez-Gatell told a news conference, confirming CanSino's approval.

CoronaVac is the name of the vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech, widely tested in Brazil, which has ordered about 100 million doses of the vaccine. 

On Monday, Pakistan said CanSino's vaccine showed 65.7 percent efficacy in preventing symptomatic cases and a 90.98 percent success rate in stopping severe disease in an interim analysis of global trials.

(With input from Reuters)