01 July 2021; MEMO: Egypt has domestically produced its first 300,000-dose batch of China's Sinovac coronavirus vaccine, the Ministry of Health announced yesterday.
Health Minister Hala Zayed told reporters that the doses were manufactured in two local factories, adding that one of the facilities was operating with a "capacity of 300,000 doses per day and an annual production capacity of 110 to 220 million doses."
She noted that the factories were affiliated to the local company Vacsera.
"About 10 to 15 million doses will be produced domestically per month for Egyptian citizens," the minister said.
Cairo signed an agreement earlier this year with the Chinese company Sinovac, under which Egypt would manufacture 40 million vaccine doses annually, with a potential increase in the production capacity to 80 million doses in the next six months.
In April Egyptian pharmaceutical firm Minapharm agreed to produce more than 40 million doses a year of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
So far, a total of 281,282 people have contracted the virus in Egypt, 16,169 of whom have died, and 211,384 others have recovered, according to Worldometers.
