Egypt Accelerates Establishment of Covid-19 Vaccines Production Facility

Madbouly visits the local vaccine production factory. (Egyptian government via Facebook)
Madbouly visits the local vaccine production factory. (Egyptian government via Facebook)
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Egypt Accelerates Establishment of Covid-19 Vaccines Production Facility

Madbouly visits the local vaccine production factory. (Egyptian government via Facebook)
Madbouly visits the local vaccine production factory. (Egyptian government via Facebook)

Egypt is moving at a quick pace to establish a complex to produce up to eight kinds of coronavirus vaccines.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly urged citizens to adhere to the preventive measures as the country grapples with a fourth wave of the pandemic.

The Health and Population Ministry said 255 new coronavirus cases were detected, upping the total to 287,899. Recoveries reached 238,249. Seven people have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the toll to 16,721.

Madbouly said the complex is a massive facility that aims at producing eight types of vaccines.

During a press conference following a tour of the complex at the 6th of October City, he said production capacity at the facility is expected to reach 3 million vaccine doses per day or an average of 1 billion annually.

Madbouly was accompanied by Health Minister Hala Zayed and Giza Governor Ahmed Rashed.

Zayed said that the coronavirus vaccines plant at the Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA) complex is planned to produce up to 24,000 packs per hour.

The factory covers 6,000 square meters of the VACSERA complex, she added.

It will be the biggest in the Middle East and North Africa for the production of COVID-19 vaccines, she continued.

Zayed expects the facility to become a regional hub for the production of vaccines planned for export to African countries.

President of VACSERA Heba Wali said the new factory comprised eight central laboratories equipped with the latest devices for measuring production quality and testing manufacturing inputs and the final product according to the standards recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).



US Imposes Sanctions on Iran and Houthi-related Targets

Houthi fighters take part in a parade during a mobilization campaign, in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
Houthi fighters take part in a parade during a mobilization campaign, in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
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US Imposes Sanctions on Iran and Houthi-related Targets

Houthi fighters take part in a parade during a mobilization campaign, in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
Houthi fighters take part in a parade during a mobilization campaign, in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB

The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on Iran and Houthi-related entities, according to the Treasury Department website which listed a number of individuals, companies and vessels that had been targeted.

The sanctions target three vessels involved in the trade of Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals, which generate billions of dollars for Iran's leaders, the Treasury said, supporting its nuclear program, development of ballistic missiles and financing of proxies including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the Houthis in Yemen.

“The United States is committed to targeting Iran’s key revenue streams that fund its destabilizing activities,” Bradley Smith, acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a release. Smith said Iran relies on a shadowy network of vessels, companies, and facilitators for those activities.

The vessels targeted were the Djibouti-flagged crude oil tanker MS ENOLA, owned by Journey Investment company, the San Marino-flagged MS ANGIA, and the Panama-flagged MS MELENIA. The last two tankers are managed and operated by Liberia- and Greece-registered Rose Shipping Limited, Treasury said.

The Treasury also sanctioned a dozen individuals, including the head of the Houthi-aligned Central Bank of Yemen branch in Sanaa, for their roles in trafficking arms, laundering money, and shipping illicit Iranian petroleum for the benefit of the Houthi militias.

It said that among the persons designated are key smuggling operatives, arms traffickers, and shipping and financial facilitators who have enabled the Houthis to acquire and transport an array of dual-use and weapons components, as well as generate revenue to support their destabilizing regional activities.

The sanctions block all property and interests in the United States of the designated parties and US persons and entities dealing with them could be exposed to sanctions or enforcement actions including fines.