Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel Ghaffar inaugurated on Saturday, the logistical complex for preserving and distributing vaccines in the Holding Company for Vaccines and Biological Products – Vacsera, which was launched in April, in cooperation with the Chinese company Sinovac.
In addition, the minister witnessed the signing ceremony of a document of receipt of 10 million doses of the Coronavirus vaccines provided by the Chinese government, as part of the 60 million doses that the Chinese government vowed to provide Egypt with. The minister emphasised that Egypt has a sufficient stock of Coronavirus vaccines until 2023.
During his speech, the minister stressed that the strategic partnership between Egypt and China witnessed a great leap in recent years.
He stressed that good storage is one of the most important factors for maintaining vaccines, as they are biological materials that lose their effectiveness and ability to generate immunity against diseases when exposed to inappropriate temperatures, noting that to ensure the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine, the cold chain must be maintained and stored at the appropriate temperature until it reaches the the user.
Abdel Ghaffar pointed out that Sinovac had submitted a proposal to automatically and centrally equip the complex for cold storage with a storage capacity of 150 million doses, according to the latest WHO standards for good storage.
The complex was built on an area of 3,180 square meters, with a capacity of 100-150 million doses of vaccines annually.
Heba Wali, the Vacsera’s CEO explained that the complex includes two cold rooms at a temperature of (2-8) degrees Celsius, each area of 661 square meters, 9 meters high, for storing finished vaccines, and 3 areas, for loading and unloading – to receive refrigerated trucks and load and unload shipments, equipped with insulated doors designed to achieve rapid temperature control without affecting the temperature of the complex.
For his part, Chargé d’Affaires of the Chinese Ambassador to Egypt, Gan Tao, said that China constantly seeks to cooperate with the African countries, as well as provide support for health issues, and provide aspects of support and solutions to sustain this cooperation.
He explained that his country is working hand in hand to build a healthy and conscious future between Africa and China, praising the Egyptian state’s support for China since the beginning of the pandemic, after which China was keen to provide 189 million doses of vaccines to 27 African countries.
