Even as it battles its second wave of COVID-19, Egypt has received its first batch of coronavirus vaccine.
Health Minister Hala Zayed was on hand at Cairo International Airport on the evening of 10 December to welcome the first shipment of the Chinese vaccine produced by Chinese State-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm. The shipment was flown to Egypt on UAE aircraft, for which President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi thanked the UAE. Joining the Minister were China’s Ambassador to Cairo Liao Liqiang and acting Emirati Ambassador to Egypt Mariam al-Kaabi.
The Sinopharm vaccine, which was declared 86 per cent effective and has been approved by WHO for emergency use, relies on an inactivated virus, whereas vaccines developed by western companies such as Pfizer/BioNTech target the virus’ spike protein using Ribonucleic acid (RNA).
At the Cairo airport, a thrilled Dr Zayed said that Egypt was the first country in Africa to receive the coronavirus vaccine, with support of the Emirati healthcare form G24. She thanked both China and the UAE for making this possible, proudly noting that Egypt had taken part in the third phase trials on the vaccine last September and October. Minister Zayed was herself one of the volunteers.
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The Minister said Egypt will be receiving more of the vaccine in successive batches, to provide to Egyptians free of charge as per directives from President Sisi.
The priority in administering the vaccine will be given to higher risk patients, Dr Zayed said. These, she explained, include medical staff in isolation hospitals and in chest and fevers hospitals, also cancer or kidney failure patients, older people and persons suffering from chronic diseases.
The vaccine, which includes two shots 21 days apart, is injected in the upper arm.
The Chinese Ambassador Liqiang said the Egyptian-Chinese relations have witnessed a big leap over the past years. He commended Egypt’s management of the coronavirus crisis, and also expressed appreciation for the country’s support of China during hard times, not least by illuminating Egyptian monuments with the colours of the Chinese flag. He thanked Dr Zayed for her visit of solidarity to the People’s Republic of China last February. Two days earlier, Egypt had airlifted to China 10 tons of preventive medical utilities, as a token of support and goodwill. Mr Liqiang said China would never forget that act.
Mr Liqiang said the arrival of the Sinopharm vaccine to Cairo constituted the best evidence of the strong, friendly ties between the two countries. He stressed that China would steadily support Egypt in the future in its battle against COVID-19.
UAE Acting Ambassador Ms Kaabi said the supply of the first batch of coronavirus vaccine was an event that called for celebration, given that it exemplifies the depth of relations between the UAE and Egypt, a model of brotherhood and solidarity on all strategic and economic levels.
According to the COVID-19 Resilience Ranking Report issued by Bloomberg in November, Egypt is one of the highest-ranking countries in signing vaccine supply agreements. It has signed a deal with the GAVI, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, to secure the provision of further vaccine doses. Cabinet Spokesman Nader Saad said on TV that Egypt is expected to receive doses of one of GAVI’s coronavirus vaccines in May 2021.
Dr Zayed said earlier that Egypt has reserved doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by US’s Pfizer, which would cover up to 20 per cent of the country’s needs. It has also secured doses of a promising British vaccine developed by Oxford University that will meet around 30 per cent of the country’s needs, she said.
In September, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund agreed to supply 25 million doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine to Egypt via Pharco, one of Russia’s leading pharmaceutical groups.
A website is being launched by the Ministry of Health for those seeking the vaccine with a registration site for individual information.
“We have a cold (supply) chain that can handle 110 million doses of the coronavirus,” Dr Zayed said.
Health Minister Dr Zayed confirmed that Egypt has obtained legislative approval to produce the Chinese coronavirus vaccine locally. She said that it was a matter of days for contracts for local manufacturing to be signed.
“We are seeking to manufacture the Sinovac vaccine and distribute it to African countries. We have a production line ready and are now negotiating financial matters,” she said.
Last July, Dr Zayed had discussed with Ambassador Liqiang cooperation between China and the Health Ministry’s VACSERA to produce a vaccine, the objective being to manufacture this vaccine in Egypt once its safety and effectiveness were confirmed. It was agreed that Egypt would become a hub for the production of the vaccine in Africa.
With daily numbers of COVID-19 cases and death on the rise in Egypt, the country has been actively preparing to deal with the rebound. On 15 December 2020, the figures registered by the Health Ministry stood at 511 cases and 23 deaths. The total tally was 122,086 infections among whom 105,132 survived and 6,943 met their death.
Dr Zayed said that the infrastructure of 44 fevers and chest hospitals was being upgraded, 100 oxygen tanks were being supplied, and the gas grids in hospitals were being upgraded. This in addition to raising hospital capacities by 7,500 beds and 1,500 ICU beds; as well as 17 CT scan apparatuses.
According to the Health Ministry, the occupancy rate in isolation hospitals is around 24 per cent, and in ICUs 56 per cent. As to ventilators, 30 per cent of them are in use.
Watani International
15 December 2020