Egypt Watch

Coronavirus Chinese vaccine is preparing to invade Egypt despite fears of its safety

The Egyptian Minister of Health and Population, Hala Zayed, announced, on Monday, that the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine has been approved in Egypt, and this will be officially announced within hours. The announcement comes as the country is currently witnessing a second wave of the coronavirus with rising daily infections and deaths. Hala, during a phone interview with the Saudi satellite TV channel Al-Arabiya, added there is a government’s plan to distribute the Corona vaccine after its testing ends next week.

The Minister announced the existence of a registration website for those wishing to receive the vaccine. Hala said that December is expected to record an increase in the number of cases and deaths with Covid-19. The Egyptian Minister admitted that the officially announced numbers do not reflect the reality on the ground, and this is what happens all over the world, and that what is officially announced are only the numbers that have been recorded.

The approval of the Chinese vaccine comes despite doctors and activists questioning the effectiveness of the Chinese vaccine, and have expressed their fear about the way the vaccination process proceeds, and tests to ensure its safety. The fears of some Egyptians about the Chinese vaccine stem from several reasons: One of them is related to the prevailing idea about Chinese products in general. Therefore, tweeters see the government’s decision to vaccinate Egyptians with a Chinese vaccine as a risky attempt.

Doctors confirm that many questions remain about the Chinese vaccines, and the results of the associated clinical trials. Doctors say that “The lack of transparency in the Chinese system has led to thousands of people being vaccinated so far, without publishing clinical trial data.” Health professionals say that the Egyptian system has resorted to Chinese vaccines, as they are cheaper than American vaccines, for example.

In addition, unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the Chinese “Synopharma” vaccine does not require huge capacities to be transported and stored. But doctors confirm that the effectiveness of the Chinese vaccine is much less than the level of the vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (American – Germany), which reached 95% effectiveness or Moderna vaccine (94.1% effective).