Egypt has already produced one million doses of Sinovac coronavirus vaccine

Thanks to its collaboration with the Chinese company Sinovac, Egypt has already produced one million doses of vaccines against the coronavirus. Sunday, July 18, a ceremony chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry was organized to mark the crossing of this symbolic milestone.

The announcement comes less than two months after the start of production of the Chinese serum in Egypt. In May, the authorities had indicated that the country of the pharaohs would locally produce the Sinovac vaccine against covid-19, as of June 2021. The manufacturing process entrusted to the Egyptian Company for Biologics and Vaccines (VACSERA) was to initially allow to obtain 2 million doses, in one month, of the vaccine called Sinovac-Vacsera, according to the Egyptian Minister of Health, Hala Zayed.

Although the result obtained is below the objectives initially set, this production of one million doses of the Chinese vaccine in Egypt is hailed as a real step forward by the authorities of the two countries. Not only is it part of an Egyptian strategy in particular and African in general of local production of vaccines against the coronavirus, but it also reinforces the influence of Chinese aid in the fight against the pandemic on a continent where Beijing is located. has established itself in recent years as an essential partner. This, even as the Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca vaccines are struggling to find their way on the continent, due to some competition with rich countries which continue to order billions of dollars.

While African countries are suffering from a shortage of vaccines which has slowed down their vaccination campaigns against the backdrop of public skepticism regarding the effectiveness of these serums, Cairo has announced that it can produce up to 40 million doses of the Chinese vaccine for the first year of manufacture.

It should be remembered that Egypt had already concluded an agreement with Russia for the local production of the Sputnik V vaccine. 40 million doses per year should also be produced under this agreement.

Note that apart from its population, and its African neighbors, the Sinovac vaccine produced by Egypt should make it possible to supply several Arab countries. To this end, Beijing and Cairo have announced a joint donation of 500,000 doses of the serum to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to meet the immediate needs of the local population.