Egypt to produce 40m doses of Sputnik V

CAIRO: Egyptian firm Minapharm announced on Thursday it will produce 40 million doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was the first partnership for the production of Sputnik V in the Middle East and North Africa, Minapharm said in a joint statement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund.

Rollout of the vaccine intended for “global distribution” was expected later this year, said Minapharm and the RDIF, which backed the financing of the vaccine.

Egypt, with a population of over 100 million, has recorded nearly 219,000 positive cases including more than 12,000 deaths.

The African Union’s (AU) disease control body and World Health organisation (WHO) on Thursday urged African countries not to waste COVID-19 vaccines donated to them, ater confusion in Malawi and South Sudan about whether doses they received had expired.

“My appeal to member states is: if we are doing our part to mobilise these vaccines, you do your part and use the vaccines,” John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), told a news conference.

Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’S Africa director, told a separate briefing that the shots made by the Serum Institute should be stored until more information was available.

“My understanding is that the expiry date could be several months longer than had initially been envisaged. But we will look for the definitive information,” she said.

Peter Aguek Akon, director-general of South Sudan’s Drugs and Food Control Authority, said it was up to the Health Ministry to inform the regulator if the vaccine’s expiry date had been extended.

“If they get the leter of extension, then they should bring the leter to us as a regulator to review if it will be acceptable,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tunisian hospitals have run out of intensive care beds amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, a member of the independent scientific commitee that advises the government said on Thursday.