Egypt has received its first batch of Chinese anti-coronavirus vaccine late Thursday to help fight against the COVID-19 epidemic.
The country’s Minister of Health, Hala Zayed in a press conference held at Cairo International Airport said;
It’s a historic day to receive the first air shipments of the Chinese anti-coronavirus vaccine.
The new Chinese vaccine will be available for citizens for free upon directives of the political leadership.
Zayed noted that the priority of distributing the vaccine would be given to the medical staff in isolation hospitals, people with chronic diseases like cancer and kidney failure, and the elderly.
According to the official, the batch of the vaccine, developed by China’s state-owned Sinopharm pharmaceutical firm, came from the United Arab Emirates.
On December 9, the UAE announced the official registration of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by the China National Pharmaceutical Group or Sinopharm.
UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention in a statement said the interim analysis of the phase III trials shows the Chinese vaccine provides 86 percent efficacy against COVID-19 infection.
According to the statement, the analysis also shows the vaccine to have 99 percent seroconversion rate of neutralizing antibody and 100 percent effectiveness in preventing moderate and severe cases of the disease. Furthermore, the analysis shows no serious safety concerns.
NAN reports that Egypt has confirmed so far a total of 120,147 COVID-19 cases, resulting in 6,854 deaths.
Also, in recent weeks, health authorities in the country have recorded an increase in daily infection rates amid a warning of a potential second wave of the pandemic.
