1 billion productions of Sinovac vaccines a year: Egypt

Egypt announced Wednesday that it intends to produce one billion doses of China’s Sinovac vaccine every year, claiming to be the Middle East and Africa’s “largest vaccine producer. “According to the agreement reached with the Chinese pharmaceutical company, a factory in Cairo would produce more than 200 million doses per year to meet “national demands,” according to Health Minister Hala Zayed at a news conference.

A second factory will create three million doses per day, “or roughly a billion per year,” with the goal of exporting the Covid-19 vaccine and meeting demand in Africa, according to Zayed. According to an official announcement, the move would make Egypt “the largest vaccine manufacturer in the Middle East and Africa. “The project’s doctor, Heba Wali, said the Egyptian drug administration had given its approval and that “one million medicines have already been distributed in Egypt. “Chinese scientists have previously visited Egypt to evaluate equipment and materials used in the production of the Sinovac vaccine at plants owned by the state-owned Vacsera.

Egypt, with a population of over 100 million, has officially recorded more than 288,000 Covid-19 cases, including over 16,700 deaths. Some 7.5 million Egyptians have had at least one vaccine.