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Egypt Prepares to Export Locally Made Covid Vaccines to Africa

Egypt seeks to become a hub for inoculations on the African continent. (Archival photo - Reuters)
Egypt seeks to become a hub for inoculations on the African continent. (Archival photo - Reuters)
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Egypt Prepares to Export Locally Made Covid Vaccines to Africa

Egypt seeks to become a hub for inoculations on the African continent. (Archival photo - Reuters)
Egypt seeks to become a hub for inoculations on the African continent. (Archival photo - Reuters)

Egypt is preparing to export locally-manufactured COVID-19 vaccines to African nations, looking forward to becoming a hub for inoculations on the continent grappling with the virus.

Egyptian authorities are expected to discuss potential export plans with a Chinese delegation in late February, Bloomberg news site quoted Heba Wali, president of the state-run Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (Vacsera), as saying.

The move comes as a government official said a batch of locally made Sinovac vaccines had been sent to the Palestinian territories, in the first overseas shipment.

Negotiations are also underway to provide neighboring Libya with the Sinovac vaccine, according to Wali.

She said other African countries had requested shipments, without identifying them, saying distribution could be via the COVAX alliance or direct payments, depending on circumstances.

The World Health Organization said on Friday that Egypt is one of six African countries that will be given technology to produce mRNA vaccines.

Egypt has so far manufactured 27 million-30 million Sinovac doses and has the capacity to create a total of 100 million in 2022, acting Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said on Sunday.

It recently sent 500,000 Sinovac doses to the Palestinians, he added.

Talks are underway with AstraZeneca Plc on the possibility of producing its vaccine in Egypt, Wali said.

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Cute carnivores: Bloodthirsty California Squirrels Go Nuts for Vole Meat

This handout photo obtained from the University of California on December 18, 2024, shows ground squirrels eating voles in Davis, California. Sonja Wild / University of California, Davis/AFP
This handout photo obtained from the University of California on December 18, 2024, shows ground squirrels eating voles in Davis, California. Sonja Wild / University of California, Davis/AFP
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Cute carnivores: Bloodthirsty California Squirrels Go Nuts for Vole Meat

This handout photo obtained from the University of California on December 18, 2024, shows ground squirrels eating voles in Davis, California. Sonja Wild / University of California, Davis/AFP
This handout photo obtained from the University of California on December 18, 2024, shows ground squirrels eating voles in Davis, California. Sonja Wild / University of California, Davis/AFP

Squirrels might look like adorable, nut-hoarding furballs, but some are ruthless predators that hunt, tear apart, and devour voles.
That's the startling finding of a new study published Wednesday in the Journal of Ethology -- the first to document widespread carnivorous behavior in these seemingly innocent creatures.
"There is always something new to learn and wild animals continue to surprise us," lead author Jennifer E. Smith, an associate professor of biology at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire told AFP.
"In a changing world with many technological advances, there is no replacement for direct observation of natural history, including watching the squirrels and birds that often visit our backyards."
The observations were made this summer, during the 12th year of a long-term study conducted at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County, California.
Between June and July, researchers recorded 74 interactions involving California ground squirrels and voles, with 42 percent of them involving active hunting of their fellow rodents.
Co-author Sonja Wild, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis, admitted she was initially skeptical of the reports brought to her by undergraduate students who first witnessed the behavior.
"I could barely believe my eyes," said Wild. But "once we started looking, we saw it everywhere."
It was previously known that as many as 30 species of squirrels opportunistically consume meat, ranging from small fish to birds. However, it was unclear whether this behavior stemmed from scavenging or active predation.
The new study is the first to confirm that hunting is, in fact, a common behavior.
Researchers observed squirrels crouching low to the ground before ambushing their prey, though more often, they chased voles, pounced, and delivered a neck bite followed by vigorous shaking.
The study also found that the squirrels' carnivorous behavior peaked during the first two weeks of July, coinciding with a surge in vole populations reported by citizen scientists on the iNaturalist app.
Other animals, such as raccoons, coyotes, and spotted hyenas, have been known to adapt their hunting strategies in response to human-induced changes in their environments.
"In a changing world, it can be daunting to consider all of the challenges that human presence, habitat loss, and climate change impose on animals," said Smith.
"Our study offers an exciting silver lining, demonstrating the incredible flexibility that some animals possess."
Several questions still remain unanswered.
Researchers hope to investigate how widespread hunting behavior is among squirrel species, whether it is passed down from parents to pups, and how it affects their broader ecosystems.