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UAE launches COVID-19 vaccine production with China’s Sinopharm
A new factory in Abu Dhabi will start manufacturing a COVID-19 vaccine from Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm later this year under a joint venture between Sinopharm and Abu Dhabi-based technology company Group 42 (G42).
The project is an expansion of Chinese diplomacy in the Gulf region and helps the United Arab Emirates’ quest to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbon production.
The plant, which is being built in the Khalifa Industrial Zone of Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), will have a production capacity of 200 million doses a year with three filling lines and five automated packaging lines, a statement from the joint venture said on Monday.
The vaccine will be called Hayat-Vax when manufactured in the UAE, but is the same inactivated vaccine from the Beijing Institute of Biological Product (BiBP), a unit of Sinopharm’s China National Biotec Group (CNBG), that the UAE approved for general use in December.
As part of the joint venture, interim production of Hayat-Vax has already begun in the emirate of Ras al-Khaimah under a deal between G42 and Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries PSC, the statement said.
That interim production line has an initial capacity of 2 million doses per month and no details were given about how long production will continue there.
The UAE, through G42, hosted Phase III clinical trials of the Sinopharm vaccine from July, which later expanded to other countries in the region including Bahrain. The UAE approved the vaccine for frontline workers in September before making it available to the general public in December.
G42 has previously said it has distribution and manufacturing agreements with Sinopharm and hopes to provide the UAE and other states in the region with the vaccine.
The deal was launched during a two-day visit to the UAE by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi which ended on Sunday.
The joint venture also includes a purpose-built research and development hub for life sciences, biotechnology and vaccine production in KIZAD.
“Our joint venture is also actively looking to bring our capabilities to new markets around the world,” G42 CEO Peng Xiao said.
The UAE has said its trials showed the vaccine has 86% efficacy, while Sinopharm reports 79.34% efficacy based on interim results.
Some people in the UAE failed to develop sufficient antibodies after a second dose of the Sinopharm vaccine and were given a third dose, the UAE health ministry said this month. It said the number was “minimal” compared to the number of vaccines administered.
On Sunday, a Sinopharm executive said the company will need to assess results from overseas Phase III clinical trials to decide whether its two-shot vaccine should be followed by a booster shot.
“Thanks to the close collaboration with the UAE, Sinopharm’s vaccine has been now administered to millions of people in the country, the region, and the world,” Sinopharm Chairman Liu Jingzhen said at a virtual launch also attended by UAE Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has emphasized the continuation of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, stating that the ongoing provision of such aid plays an important role in ensuring regional security.
Speaking at the international conference “Peace and Trust” in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, Tokayev described addressing complex humanitarian challenges and the reconstruction of Afghanistan as a necessity.
“To ensure regional security, we consider it essential to continue providing assistance to Afghanistan, including by strengthening international efforts to address complex humanitarian issues and the reconstruction of this country. Kazakhstan remains committed to supporting the people of Afghanistan through humanitarian aid, educational projects, trade development, and food security initiatives,” he said.
Meanwhile, experts believe that sustainable improvement of the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan requires broad cooperation from the international community and support for the country’s economic development.
“Investment can be defined as one of the fundamental drivers of the economic cycle, and whenever Afghan traders do not take their money out of the country and instead invest domestically, it naturally leads to greater growth and dynamism in Afghanistan’s economy,” said Abdul Zahoor Modabber, an economic analyst.
As the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan continues, reports by international relief organizations indicate that millions of citizens of the country are in urgent need of food, health, and livelihood assistance.
The reduction in funding for aid organizations, the impacts of climate change, and the return of migrants have increased concerns about a further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country.
The Islamic Emirate has announced that it will not participate in the upcoming meeting of special envoys of regional countries on Afghanistan, scheduled to be held in Tehran, despite having received an invitation.
In a statement, Zia Ahmad Takal, Head of Information and Public Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Islamic Emirate has maintained continuous and active engagement with all regional countries through various organizations, regional formats, and bilateral mechanisms, achieving notable progress in promoting mutual understanding and regional cooperation.
The statement added that Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes regional cooperation should be advanced by strengthening existing mechanisms and formats within the region.
Tehran is set to host the meeting next week, with special envoys from Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, China, and Russia expected to attend.
Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani, Minister of Interior of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, said during a visit to Khost province on Friday that any government which rules through fear cannot be considered a true government.
“A government is one that is loved by its people, one that serves them with respect and compassion, and from whose behavior people learn ethics and sincerity,” he said.
Haqqani also stressed that Afghans who opposed the Islamic Emirate in the past should be tolerated and treated in a way that helps eliminate hostility and animosity, paving the way for national cohesion.
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