Many countries around the world are striving to produce a vaccine against the novel coronavirus on their soil in an effort to avoid shortages in doses that could affect their national vaccination campaigns against the pandemic. In this context, the Ministry of Health and Population in Egypt announced that local production of the Chinese vaccine "Sinovac" will begin in mid-June. Health Minister Hala Zayed stated to the private channel "MBC Egypt" last night, that the first production of the "Sinovac" vaccine in Egypt will be on June 15, and it will take up to six weeks for testing before being distributed to vaccination centers.
The minister explained that Egypt expects to receive this month raw materials to manufacture an additional 4.2 million doses of the "Sinovac" vaccine, and the country aims to produce 40 million doses this year. Egypt received a shipment in May of raw materials to produce two million doses of the "Sinovac" vaccine after signing an agreement to produce the vaccine locally and distribute it in Egypt and other African countries. The Egyptian Minister of Health mentioned that Cairo also expects to soon reach an agreement with an international company to produce a European vaccine in Egypt.
Earlier, the Cabinet stated that Egypt aims to locally produce the "AstraZeneca" vaccine. Egypt, which has received several million doses of the "AstraZeneca" and "Sinopharm" vaccines, aims to vaccinate 40 percent of its population by the end of this year. The population of Egypt is approximately 100 million people. Meanwhile, sources at Cairo International Airport reported that Egypt received 500,000 doses of the "Sinovac" vaccine for the prevention of the coronavirus.
