Health Minister Hala Zayed said Egypt and China are cooperating to localise the manufacture of coronavirus vaccines in Egypt to meet the needs of the region.

Speaking at a video conference meeting at the World Health Organization (WHO) general assembly on Monday, the minister reiterated that such cooperation aims to make Egypt a leading hub to cover both local and regional vaccine needs.

Zayed thanked all participants in the meeting, including WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom and WHO officials, for their efforts to help countries counter the coronavirus outbreak.

The minister also underscored the need to learn lessons from the pandemic, continue to provide better basic health services for all categories of people, and support investments in health sectors.

Egypt's vaccine maker VACSERA has started manufacturing the first batch of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine, as per a deal inked in April with the Chinese side.

A shipment carrying raw materials for the vaccine, which can produce 2 million doses, arrived in Egypt on Friday.

VACSERA is planning to manufacture over 40 million Chinese vaccine doses by the end of 2021

Egypt also plans to locally manufacture the AstraZeneca vaccine at VACSERA’s factories in 6 October City.