Egypt and China have agreed to manufacture the Chinese vaccine Sinovac inside Egypt via two firms, with an annual production capacity ranging from 20 to 60 million doses, the Egyptian Minister of Health Hala Zayed told a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Zayed added that an agreement has been reached with the Chinese company to manufacture the vaccine inside Egypt via the Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA).
Thus far, two firms were picked to produce the vaccine with a production capacity ranging from 20 to 60 million doses yearly, the minister said at the meeting, according to a Cabinet statement.
The minister also said that up to 98,000 Egyptians have so far registered on the government's website to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Egypt has been carrying out a mass vaccination campaign, allowing priority groups -- which include medical staff, the elderly, and patients with chronic diseases -- to register online via a designated website to be inoculated.
Online registration started late in February, nearly a month following the conclusion of vaccinating healthcare workers, who have been battling the contagion at coronavirus isolation and triage hospitals.
During the meeting, Zayed said 40 vaccination centres have been inaugurated recently, raising the total up to 196, while efforts are underway to reach 350 centres nationwide shortly as the country looks to gradually ramp up its vaccination rollout to absorb the "rising" turnout.
As many as 148,987 Egyptian citizens have been so far vaccinated against coronavirus, according to a statement by the ministry of health on Monday.
Egypt has obtained over 1.5 million doses of the Chinese Sinopharm and the British-Swedish Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, both of which the vaccination campaign relies on.
Source: Al-Ahram Online
