8K Sharm El Sheikh hospitality workers vaccinated against hepatitis A ahead of COP 27

CAIRO – 5 November 2022: Spokesperson of the Ministry of Health and Population Hossam Abdel Ghaffar stated Saturday that 8,000 hospitality workers at Sharm El Sheikh had been vaccinated against hepatitis A, in preparation for the flow of large numbers of guests at a time to attend COP 27.

Commenting on the declaration of Egypt clear of measles and rubella by the WHO, Abdel Ghaffar said that the achievement is the outcome of implementing an immunization program that targets Egyptian and expat children since the age of one day until the age of 24 months.  

The World Health Organization's Regional Verification Commission (RVC) declared Egypt clear of measles and rubella for the period 2018-2021.

The declaration came during the RVC's fourth meeting that took place on November 1-3. The commission equally recommended Egypt's Ministry of Health and Population to maintain the high performance of the National Immunization Programme (NIP).

The commission also recommended bolstering vaccination targeted at people coming from most affected countries, and mandatory vaccination of expat children coming from those countries. 

Egypt’s Minister of Health Khaled Abdel Ghaffar inaugurated in September an automated vaccine storage complex in Giza’s Sixth of October City with a capacity ranging from 100 to 150 million doses per year.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Health, the complex, which belongs to Egypt’s Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA), was constructed in cooperation with the Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac over 3,180 square meters.

“This is a contribution from the Chinese company in increasing the storage capacities of vaccines in Egypt so that the company (VACSERA) becomes a regional center for the manufacture and storage of vaccines in the African continent,” Abdel Ghaffar said.

The government has outlined a comprehensive plan for developing VACSERA as part of the country’s strategy to make Egypt a regional hub for manufacturing vaccines and meet the African continent’s needs of vaccines, Abdel Ghaffar said.