Vaccine Countdown

Egypt set to mass produce China-developed COVID-19 vaccine

-  Muhammad Mansour

Egypt is set to become a vaccine manufacturing center for the African market, mass producing one of five COVID-19 vaccines developed in China. The vaccine, not yet identified, is under trial and production will begin after its safety and efficacy is proven, according to the outcome of a meeting between high-ranking officials in Cairo headed by Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed and the Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang on July 20.

Khaled Megahed, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Health and Population, said Egypt could potentially begin manufacturing the COVID-19 vaccine within three months (after the meeting), reiterating that the vaccine has already passed two phases of clinical tests and is currently in the final phase.

Making preparations

Reflecting on the Egyptian Government’s relentless efforts to enhance the capacity of vaccine factories tasked with the mass production, Zayed has chaired a meeting at VACSERA (Egypt’s state-run producer of vaccines) to follow up on the company’s latest preparations aimed at manufacturing COVID-19 vaccine in cooperation with Beijing-based Sinovac Biotech Co. Ltd.

A statement by the Egyptian cabinet on July 8 said the COVID-19 vaccine comes within the framework of an agreement between Egyptian and Chinese governments, making Egypt “the African hub for manufacturing China’s vaccine for COVID-19.”