Egypt is ready to meet the needs of African countries for coronavirus vaccines through the local production of vaccines in the factories of the state-owned Vacsera company.
Egyptian Minister of Health Hala Zayed met with Chairman of the Unified Procurement Authority Bahaa el-Din Zidan and Chairman of the African Export-Import Bank (AEIB) Benedict Oramah to discuss the supply of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine to African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT).
AVAT, in cooperation with AEIB, is part of the country’s plan to diversify and expand the provision of coronavirus vaccines.
The first batch of 261,600 Johnson and Johnson doses arrived on Monday in cooperation with the African Union (AU), as part of a series of shipments. Egypt is expected to receive 700,000 shots of the vaccine.
Zayed said the production capacity of Vacsera is ready to manufacture the vaccines and distribute them in African countries to localize the vaccine industry.
The meeting also dealt with Egypt’s readiness to meet the needs of African countries for medicines to treat malaria, AIDS, Ebola, and others.
Egypt can manufacture various types of vaccines and is ready to transfer them and drug manufacturing technology and send medical teams throughout the continent, announced Zayed.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export and Import Bank lauded the role of AVAT, stressing that this is the first time African countries harness all their resources to provide vaccines with complete control over the management of the pandemic to preserve the health of African citizens.
He expressed his happiness with the Bank’s participation, noting that vaccines will be sent to African Union member states, including Egypt, where it is expected that vaccine shipments will increase in September.
