The state is planning to produce 80 million doses of vaccines by the end of this year to vaccinate 40 million citizens in a bid to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus during winter period, Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed said Wednesday.
Zayed reviewed the latest developments in dealing with the coronavirus crisis, and the situation of manufacturing and importing vaccines during a cabinet meeting held Wednesday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli.
Zayed said that coronavirus infections and deaths decreased during the 26th week of the pandemic.
The minister stressed that the state was exerting tireless efforts to manufacture a local anti-coronavirus vaccine, in co-operation and coordination with the Chinese company Sinovac.
She referred to the prime minister’s visit to Vacsera factories on Monday to witness the production of the first million doses of this vaccine.
Minister Zayed said that 300,000 doses are being produced daily in one shift. If more raw materials were made available, she said there will be two shifts in the Vacsera factory, bringing the daily production to 600,000 shots.
The Covid-19 pandemic is a great challenge, she said, adding that this virus is not expected to disappear in the near future, a fact that made the state work hard to manufacture the vaccine, especially as it is likely that there will be an annual vaccination for citizens during the coming periods to avoid more infections.
The step comes in light of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s directives to provide necessary basic vaccines and medicines to citizens and upgrade Egypt’s manufacturing capabilities both at regional and international levels, the minister of health said.
The minister touched on the situation of the virus infections in the world, in light of the new strain of Delta variant.
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