Egypt approves emergency use of Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine

The first shipment of the Sinopharm vaccine arrived in Egypt in December.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Booth displaying coronavirus vaccine candidate from CNBG, a unit of Sinopharm, in Beijing (photo credit: REUTERS/TINGSHU WANG)
Booth displaying coronavirus vaccine candidate from CNBG, a unit of Sinopharm, in Beijing
(photo credit: REUTERS/TINGSHU WANG)
Egypt has approved emergency use of the Chinese Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine, Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed announced over the weekend.
The country will begin vaccinating medical staff in the second week of January, according to Arab News. The Sinopharm vaccine was approved by a committee including representatives from the medical services of the military, the Ministry of Higher Education, the Egyptian Drug Authority and WHO.
Egypt will purchase the AstraZeneca vaccine and has received approval from Britain to receive the vaccine. The vaccine should arrive in Egypt by the end of the month.
The first shipment of the Sinopharm vaccine arrived in Egypt in December.
China has at least five vaccines, developed by Sinovac, CNBG units, CanSino Biologics and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in late stage trials, underscoring its efforts to develop a homegrown vaccine to challenge Western rivals.
 
President Xi Jinping has pledged to make China's vaccines a global public good and it has won several large supply deals with countries including Indonesia and Brazil - the most populous countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America respectively.
Reuters contributed to this report.