Egypt’s Health Minister Hala Zayed discussed with the Chinese ambassador to Cairo expediting procedures to procure new quantities of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine on Sunday.

The minister discussed in a telephone call with Ambassador Liao Liqiang receiving the new shipment of the vaccine, which Egypt purchased, in the upcoming days, the health ministry said.

In the past few weeks, Egypt received 600,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine as a gift from China.

During the call, the ambassador stated that a delegation of Chinese experts will travel to Egypt to examine the production lines of the Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA) before signing a contract with the Chinese Sinovac company to produce its vaccine, the statement read. 

Last week, Zayed announced in a joint statement with Liqiang that Egypt is going to produce the Chinese Sinovac coronavirus vaccine.

They also discussed the exchange of medical and immunisation records of travelers between the two countries by implementing QR code-based system to facilitate movement between Egypt and China.