Egypt’s MoH flies to UAE for more COVID-19 vaccine shipments

CAIRO – 17 December 2020: Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed headed on Wednesday to the UAE, where she will hold discussions with UAE officials on suppling Egypt with other batches of Covid-19 vaccine, according to a statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The statement added that Zayed will discuss ways of transferring the UAE experience in vaccine manufacturing technologies to Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products & Vaccines (Vacsera), where a line for vaccine manufacturing will be established.

The minister will discuss the outcomes of the clinical researches conducted o the Chinese vaccine.

The Egyptian minister will also extend thanks to the UAE for sending the first batch of the Chinese coronavirus vaccine to Egypt few days after the UAE authorities registered the vaccine

Last week, Egypt has received the first shipment of the Chinese-manufactured Sinopharm from the UAE. According to the UAE news agency WAM, the vaccine has 86 percent efficacy against COVID-19 infection.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi thanked the United Arab of Emirates (UAE) for sending the shipment of the vaccine, highlighting the distinguished level that governs Egypt's relations with the Gulf states, especially the UAE.

The Chinese vaccine has shown 99 percent efficacy in producing antibodies to the novel virus and 100 percent efficacy in preventing cases from showing moderate or severe symptoms, the Egyptian Health Ministry spokesman said.

The first batch of the vaccine was stored in the state-owned pharmaceutical company VACSERA and then will be distributed after completing all various researches, the ministry said in a previous statement, adding that the Sinopharm vaccine has been tried in more than 6 countries, including Egypt, on 45,000 volunteers.

As for manufacturing the vaccine in VACSERA, the ministry said that an agreement between the company the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinoharm was completed and the legislative approvals were obtained, noting that a group of experts from the World Health Organization has arrived in Egypt.

Chinese Ambassador Liqiang said the Egyptian-Chinese relations have witnessed a big leap over the past years, Egyptian state’s news agency MENA reported.

He said China suffered from a critical phase as a result of the coronavirus, noting that Sisi has sent a message of solidarity to his Chinese counterpart and Zayed paid a visit to China with medical and preventive supplies.

The ambassador asserted that the arrival of the Sinopharm vaccine to Cairo is the best evidence on the strength of such friendly ties between the two countries.