Egypt to start manufacturing Sinovac vaccines

Egypt is set to start manufacturing Sinovac vaccines, following a deal the Arab country signed with China last month, the health minister said on Sunday.

Hala Zayed, the minister of health, said the first 2 million doses of the vaccine will be produced in June by the Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines.

The production is part of the 40 million Sinovac doses expected to be produced in the first year as per the agreement.

Zayed said the Egyptian company signed two deals in April with Sinovac Biotech Ltd.

The first was on provision of expertise and technical assistance on production of the vaccines to the Egyptian side, while the second was on licensing the Egyptian company to manufacture and pack the vaccine in its factory.

In addition to fast-tracking its vaccination drive through locally produced vaccines, the North African country hopes to export the vaccines to other African countries.

While the country has not used the Sinovac vaccine on its population previously, it has already administered vaccines produced by Sinopharm, another vaccine producer in China, on its citizens.

The first doses of Sinopharm vaccines, a donation from the Chinese government, was received in December, consisting of 50,000 doses, while the second shipment of 300,000 doses arrived in the country in February.

On April 20, the health ministry said it was expecting a shipment of 500,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines, part of the purchase agreement of 20 million doses.

Zayed has previously said Egypt is looking forward to signing a deal to start manufacturing Sinopharm vaccines locally.

According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Egypt has so far administered 1.06 million doses of coronavirus vaccines, representing 0.24 percent of the population fully vaccinated. The country has used 67 percent of the total supplied vaccines.

As of May 10, the country had recorded a total of 237, 410 coronavirus infection cases and 13,904 deaths.

Meanwhile, on Friday, the World Health Organization gave Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine an emergency use listing, making it the sixth vaccine to receive WHO validation for safety, efficacy and quality.

"This expands the list of vaccines that Covax can buy, and gives countries confidence to expedite their own regulatory approval, and to import and administer a vaccine," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO director-general, said.

Ghebreyesus said the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization has reviewed the available data, and recommends the vaccine for adults aged 18 years and older, with a two-dose schedule.

"Vaccines remain a vital tool. But right now, the volume and distribution of vaccines is insufficient to end the pandemic without the sustained and tailored application of public health measures that we know work," he said.

Ghebreyesus called on governments to offer incentives to manufacturers to share technology and know-how.

"We continue to encourage all member states to support technology transfer through C-TAP, the coronavirus technology access pool," he said.