China-Egypt-aided COVID-19 vaccines depart for Gaza Strip

A shipping ceremony for 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines donated jointly by the Chinese and Egyptian governments to the Gaza Strip was held at the headquarters of Egyptian company VACSERA on Feb 20, 2022.

Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang, Egypt's Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel Ghaffar and other officials attended the ceremony.

Addressing the ceremony, Liao said the cooperation between China and Egypt in providing the 500,000 doses of vaccines to the Gaza Strip is a key measure to help the Palestinian people fight the pandemic and relieve the humanitarian crisis, which fully reflects China and Egypt's concern for both the health of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian issue, and demonstrates the high level of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Egypt as well. 

Only when the Palestinian issue is solved in a comprehensive, fair and permanent way can the Middle East achieve long-term peace and security. Egypt is an important player in realizing peace in the Middle East, and China highly applauds Egypt's positive and unique contribution in pushing to solve the Palestinian issue and supports Egypt in playing a bigger role in this aspect. As a sincere friend to the Palestinian people, a permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations and a responsible major power, China is willing to contribute to a swift resolution of the Palestinian issue and achieve long-term peace and stability in the Middle East with joint efforts by the international community, including Egypt, he said. 

In 2021, China provided 67 million doses of vaccines to Egypt via donation, procurement and joint production. This year, China will continue vaccine assistance to Egypt and help Egypt become a production center of vaccines in Africa in order to jointly contribute to the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries.

Ghaffar extended sincere appreciation to China's support in their fight against the virus, especially the cooperation between Chinese company Sinovac and Egyptian company VACSERA in establishing the first COVID-19 vaccine production line on the African continent. Egypt has manufactured 30 million doses of safe and effective Chinese vaccines under this cooperation framework. The 500,000 doses of vaccines donated to the Gaza Strip are Egypt's first foreign vaccine aid jointly produced by China and Egypt, which serves as a new start of China-Egypt cooperation against the pandemic, have groundbreaking significance and reflect both countries' firm support for the Palestinian people. Next, Egypt is willing to work with China in further cooperation in areas including vaccine production localization and technology transfers, he added.