Egypt ready to manufacture, distribute Covid vaccines in Africa, health minister tells African Vaccine Acquisition Trust

CAIRO – 10 August 2021: Egypt will receive 700,000 doses of Johnson and Johnson vaccine in a second batch and will support the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) to receive the Covid-19 vaccines.

Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed said on Tuesday that Egypt supports AVAT in cooperation with the African Export-Import Bank (AEIB) as part of a plan to diversify and expand access to the vaccines.

Zayed met with Chairman of the Unified Procurement Authority Bahaa el-Din Zidan and Chairman of AEIB Benedict Oramah to discuss the supply of Johnson and Johnson vaccine to AVAT.

The minister also said the production capacity of Vacsera, Egypt’s vaccination producer and distributor, is ready to manufacture coronavirus vaccines and distribute them in Africa as means to localize the vaccine industry in the continent.

The first batch of Johnson and Johnson vaccine arrived on Monday with 261,600 doses in cooperation with the African Union. Egypt has already begun locally manufacturing Sinovac vaccine.