Egypt in talks to produce Moderna vaccines locally

Egypt’s Health Ministry is in talks in talks with US pharma giant Moderna to manufacture its mRNA covid vaccine locally, the ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement, talks were held last week between Health Minister Hala Zayed and company representatives about permitting Egypt’s state-owned vaccinemaker Vacsera to produce shots for export to the rest of Africa at its new facility in Sixth of October.

The new plant is expected to open in November and has the capacity to produce up to 3 million vaccine doses per day.

The Sinovac covid-19 jab will be the first to come off the production line.

Zayed also discussed plans to import Moderna jabs for local distribution. However, the first batch of Moderna vaccines is expected to be arrived any day, while some 3.2 million doses of the Pfizer shot are set to arrive on September 16^th.

Additionally, the government could secure an agreement with one European or Western pharma company to produce vaccines in Egypt before the end of 2021.