Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed said on Sunday that Egypt will start locally producing China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in June.
Zayed announced that the country will receive the first shipment of raw materials to manufacture the vaccine on May 18.
“We expect that the first two million doses will be produced by the end of June,” she stated.
The Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) will evaluate the vaccine once it is produced, and then the vaccine will be available in the market, Zayed added.
The minister hopes that Egypt will become a hub for vaccine manufacturing for African countries.
EDA head Tamer Essam said that both VACSERA and the Chinese company producing the Sinovac vaccine have collaborated during all stages of clinical research.
Essam stressed Egypt’s ability to keep pace with all research and scientific developments in the field of coronavirus vaccines, as well as technological efficiency and manufacturing ability.
Moreover, Zayed announced that two agreements were signed with the Chinese side, the first of which will focus on manufacturing the Sinovac vaccine through VACSERA in cooperation with Sinovac.
The second agreement will see the transfer of manufacturing technology.
The minister noted that 40 million doses of the vaccine will be produced during the first year after the signing of the manufacturing agreement.
Zayed added that the Egyptian government will participate with Russia in manufacturing the Sputnik vaccine.
