Mazatlan, Mexico - To open the 28th annual meeting of the Federal Health System, Mikel Arriola, head of the Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (Cofepris,) announced that Mexico will be the first nation in the world to get the new dengue vaccine. The meeting was held in Mazatlan this year for the first time.

Sanofi Pasteur, the French company that developed the vaccine, has reported that they hope to have 40 or 50 million doses ready to distribute to countries that request it by the first half of next year. The pharmaceutical company has determined that the vaccine will be introduced in Mexico first, and the public could begin to be vaccinated by late 2015 or early 2016.

According to the pharmaceutical company, tests indicate that this vaccine is 60.8 percent efficient in preventing the disease, and has 95.5 percent success in avoiding the more serious dengue cases.

The states of Sinaloa, Baja California Sur, Veracruz, Oaxaca, and Guerrero account for 54 percent of the 23,533 confirmed cases of dengue fever reported in Mexico. Baja California has the most recorded cases in the country, followed by Veracruz.