By Nour El-Miligi
Egypt has been focusing on getting its hands on the coronavirus vaccine once it’s released, constantly communicating with huge firms such as British Bio-Pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, Oxford University, and a Chinese firm in Beijing, regularly receiving updates on trials. Egypt’s ambition doesn’t stop at having access to the vaccine, but the government wants to also begin the process of producing the vaccine for the rest of the Middle East, aiming as far as distributing the long-awaited vaccine to all of Africa.
A Chinese company is currently in the final stages of manufacturing a vaccine for the coronavirus and is nearing confirmation of its effectiveness. Egypt will be signing a contract with the Chinese for vaccine production and its transfer to Cairo. Fortunately, the Egyptian Health Ministry confirmed on Monday that Egypt was the country picked by China to serve as a future hub for the coronavirus vaccine manufacture once proven effective by the Chinese firm located in Beijing.
During a meeting between Egypt’s Health Minister Hala Zayed and the Chinese ambassador in Cairo, Liao Liqiang, both officials addressed future plans of collaboration and partnership between the government’s affiliated company VACSERA and the Chinese firm carrying out the trials on the vaccine. They also confirmed Egypt’s participation in conducting experiments, making it one of the vital international centers participating in the production process of the emerging the coronavirus vaccines.
The parties involved reached an agreement that Egypt would become the main center for the manufacture of the vaccine in the African continent, with Dr. Khaled Mujahid, Adviser to the Minister of Health and Population, pointing out that the status of production lines in Egypt will be carefully examined and assessed in terms of quality and medical capabilities to start producing the vaccine as soon as possible. Dr. Mujahid further explained that experiments were carried out, reaching the third stage of the Chinese vaccine with positive results, and will enter another stage for approval and an activation process during the upcoming period.
The Chinese ambassador expressed his delight and pride to be collaborating with Egypt to combat the virus and help humanity face the crisis. He also thanked the Minister of Health and Population for visiting China at the beginning of the coronavirus crisis as a way of Egypt showing support during such tough times.