Amid warnings of a third coronavirus wave, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi advised the removal of any financial obstacles that prevent Cairo from locally producing COVID-19 vaccines to cover domestic needs.

“Sisi has directed action to remove any financial hurdles facing the fight against coronavirus,” said Presidential Adviser for Health Affairs Mohamed Awad Tageldin.

In exclusive statements to ExtraNews, Tageldin said Cairo is currently seeking to produce coronavirus vaccines locally to cover domestic needs, adding that Egypt could be a base for supplying other friendly countries, especially in Africa and the Middle East region, with their vaccine needs.

“Sisi reiterated the need to provide all necessary financial allocations for medical, health or preventive facilities, along with medical supplies to help mitigate the spread of the virus,” Tageldin added.

He noted that Egypt is witnessing a third wave of the pandemic, stressing the need for more collaboration to curb the virus and its impact on society.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Hala Zayed met Monday with Russian Ambassador in Cairo Georgiy Borisenko to discuss means of providing the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine to Egypt.

“The two sides discussed means of manufacturing the Russian vaccine in Egypt through Egyptian companies to secure the local needs for the vaccines and increase investment opportunities by exporting the production to the African market,” Health Ministry Spokesman Khaled Megahed said.

He noted that the Russian vaccine has received the approval of the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) and would be given a priority in its rollout among the state’s employees and workers in the various sectors.

For his part, Borisenko stressed his country is ready to fully cooperate with Egypt in countering the spread of coronavirus, affirming that the two countries’ relations are deeply rooted.

In the last 24 hours, Egypt recorded 850 new coronavirus cases, taking the total to 216,334.

In a statement, Megahed said 44 patients have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 12,738.

Also in Cairo, Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) spokesperson Mahmoud Yassin said that during the past year, the Authority registered 16 pharmaceutical preparations for treating the coronavirus.

Hanan Amin, Head of the Central Department of Pharmaceutical Products at the EDA, said Monday that the Authority has directed pharmaceutical companies to increase their production of preparations used in the treatment protocol of the virus.