WHA delegates highlight China's support in fighting COVID-19 pandemic

GENEVA -- Delegates from countries such as Egypt, Mexico, Niger and Gabon on Tuesday highlighted China's support in their fight against COVID-19 at the ongoing virtual World Health Assembly, the highest decision-making body of the World Health Organization.

The pandemic was an opportunity to nurture research capacity and researchers' competencies, so Egypt participated in clinical trials to test China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, said Egypt's Minister of Health Hala Zayed.

"I would like to highlight the significance of reaching an international strategy to improve access to medicines and vaccines with a focus on the importance of technology transfer, which Egypt has already done through constructive cooperation by resettling the vaccine industry and transferring manufacturing technology from the Chinese side," said the minister.

"We aspire, after the success of these experiences, to make Egypt a regional center to fulfill the needs of countries in the region based on Egypt's pioneer role in facing global and humanitarian challenges," she added.

Egypt has received the first batch of the raw materials to manufacture China's Sinovac vaccine, said the Chinese embassy in Egypt on Sunday.

Along with the Sinovac raw materials, a new shipment of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines also arrived at the Cairo International Airport on Friday, according to a statement by the embassy.

Jorge Alcocer Varela, secretary of health of Mexico, thanked friendly nations such as Argentina, China and Russia for their support.

"We have promoted a special program that promotes the use of safe vaccines in our country. In a very short space of time, Mexico has set up alliances that could be replicated in other parts of the world to accelerate the manufacture and distribution of available vaccines," he said.

Several shipments of China's COVID-19 vaccines have been sent to Mexico to help the country combat the pandemic.

The delegate from Niger also expressed gratitude to China, saying that Niger has set up an effective response mechanism with bilateral and multilateral support.

"This has allowed us to achieve satisfactory results when it comes to the management of the two waves that have affected our country," said the delegate.

Since March, Gabon has carried out vaccination campaign and over 11,000 people have been vaccinated with Sinopharm vaccines donated by China, said the Gabonese delegate.

Gabon received the first batch of China-donated Sinopharm vaccines in March. China is planning to send another batch of COVID-19 vaccines to Gabon to help the African country defeat the pandemic as soon as possible.