Egypt discussed ways to intensify cooperation with China on Saturday to cover the local needs for coronavirus vaccines, and support Egypt in becoming a regional center to manufacture vaccines.
The Chinese government plans to send 60 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine produced by the Chinese company Sinopharm.
The Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and the acting Minister of Health and Population, Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, thanked China for their continuous support to the state in various health fields, especially in transferring vaccine production technology locally.
This came during a meeting between Abdel-Ghaffar with the Chinese ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang.
The Presidential Advisor for Health and Prevention Affairs Mohamed Awad Tag Eddin stressed that the manufacture of vaccines in Egypt to confront coronavirus is an important and vital step that secures both the present and the future.
He added that Egypt has dealt with the issue of manufacturing coronavirus vaccines through great strategic thinking.
The official spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population, Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar, said that about 67,744,500 shots were used for the first and second doses so far, and there are about 73 million doses available in the vaccination centers.
He explained that the epidemiological situation of the virus in Egypt is stable and there is no need to increase isolation hospitals, pointing out that obtaining the vaccine on a regular and collective basis ensures a decrease in infections.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
