EGYPT. Cairo: Egypt’s Health Minister, Hala Zayed has hailed the Chinese coronavirus vaccine Sinopharm after the North African country received a 300,000-dose shipment of the shot as a donation from China.
“Scientifically, it is considered one of the strongest vaccines,” Zayed said.
part of Beijing’s vaccine diplomacy campaign that has been a surprising success.
Zayed told reporters that Egypt was working with the Chinese government to become a manufacturer of the vaccine to meet supply and home and in other African countries.
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Egypt had previously received 350,000 doses of the Sinopharm jab as well as a shipment of 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca shot.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said last month his country needs at least 70 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to inoculate 30-35 million people.
More about Sinopharm
The vaccine was developed in early 2020 by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products. The vaccine is called BBIP-CorV.
In June 2020 researchers said the vaccine does not cause any harm. By July phase 3 trial had begun in the United Arab Emirates.
Morocco and Peru conducted their trials in August before the UAE approved it in August.
One million people have received the jab by November, the same month Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid of Dubai announced he had received the vaccine.
By December, Bahrain had also approved the vaccine before Egypt authorised it in January this year.
Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country with over 100 million people, has reported more than 195,418 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 11,598 deaths, according to a widely used tally by Johns Hopkins University.
The actual number of COVID-19 cases, like elsewhere in the world, is thought to be far higher, in part due to limited testing.
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