Egypt Plans to Start Local Production of Moderna Vaccine

A nurse prepares COVID-19 vaccine shot Cairo, Egypt (AP)
A nurse prepares COVID-19 vaccine shot Cairo, Egypt (AP)
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Egypt Plans to Start Local Production of Moderna Vaccine

A nurse prepares COVID-19 vaccine shot Cairo, Egypt (AP)
A nurse prepares COVID-19 vaccine shot Cairo, Egypt (AP)

Egypt seeks to allocate a production line in its Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA) to manufacture the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

Minister of Health Hala Zayed met with Moderna representatives via video conference to discuss cooperation to secure coronavirus vaccine doses.

The meeting discussed allocating a production line in VACSERA to manufacture Moderna's vaccine as part of Egypt's efforts to diversify the sources of obtaining vaccines.

The Health Ministry Spokesman, Khaled Megahed, said that Egypt aims to provide vaccine doses to Africa and other countries in cooperation with international companies in this field and a production capacity that could reach three million doses per day.

Zayed invited the Moderna representatives to visit Egypt and check the manufacturing capabilities at the VACSERA factories in the Sixth of October City.

For their part, Modena representatives confirmed readiness to export coronavirus vaccine doses to Egypt and inform the Egyptian Health Ministry of developments regarding the latter's plan to produce the company's vaccine.

On Thursday, the Ministry of Health and Population reported 413 new coronavirus cases, 12 deaths, and 731 recoveries.

Since the pandemic hit the country in February last year, the total number of coronavirus cases has reached 291,585, with 16,836 deaths and 244,793 recoveries.



UN Rights Chief ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Lebanon Escalation

Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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UN Rights Chief ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Lebanon Escalation

Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

The UN rights chief on Tuesday voiced concern about the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, where his office said nearly 100 people had been reported killed by Israeli airstrikes in recent days, including women, children and medics.

Israel has been locked in fighting with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah since Oct. 2023, and fighting has escalated dramatically since late September of this year.

"UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk is gravely concerned by the escalation in Lebanon with at least 97 people reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes between the 22nd and 24th of November," Jeremy Laurence, a spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, told a Geneva press briefing.

He said that at least seven paramedics had been reported killed in three Israeli strikes in the south of Lebanon on Nov. 22-23, adding to 226 healthcare worker deaths since Oct. 7, 2023. He did not specify how many of the recent deaths had been verified by UN human rights monitors.

Israel says it targets military capabilities in Lebanon and Gaza and takes steps to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians. It accuses Hezbollah, like Hamas, of hiding among civilians, which they deny.