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.



Director of Yeyha al-Houthi's Office Arrested for Allegedly Spying for US

The Houthi have intensified their crackdown on people who refuse to support them. (EPA)
The Houthi have intensified their crackdown on people who refuse to support them. (EPA)
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Director of Yeyha al-Houthi's Office Arrested for Allegedly Spying for US

The Houthi have intensified their crackdown on people who refuse to support them. (EPA)
The Houthi have intensified their crackdown on people who refuse to support them. (EPA)

The Iran-backed Houthi militias continued their wave of arrests, reaching the highest ranks of the Houthi command.

Under the supervision of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) experts, they arrested Ali Abbas, the director of the office of Yehya al-Houthi – the militias’ leader – on alleged charges of spying for the United States.

Political sources in Sanaa told Asharq Al-Awsat that Houthi intelligence, which operates under the IRGC, arrested Abbas and deputy at the Ministry of Education Ahmed al-Nunu on spying charges.

The sources said the arrests were based on investigations the Houthis have carried out with dozens of detainees who used to work for United Nations offices and other international organizations, as well as former staff at the US embassy in Yemen and the Netherlands.

The legitimate Yemeni government condemned the Houthis for kidnapping Nunu.

Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said the arrest sheds light on the ongoing oppression the Houthis practice in regions under their control.

“No one is safe from their violent practices, not even people who have worked for them since their coup,” he added.

The Houthis had kidnapped other senior Education Ministry officials, professor Mohammed al-Mekhlafi and expert Mujib al-Mekhlafi, nine months ago.

Eryani said the Houthis also executed educational expert Sabri al-Hakimi while in detention because he refused to join their effort to change curricula that would promote the militias’ goals.

He called on the international community, UN and rights organizations to speak out against these “heinous crimes.”

He also called for the designation of the Houthis as a terrorist organization and for the international community to offer real and effective support to the government so that the state can impose its control throughout the country and end the violations against the Yemeni people.