Egyptian health minister says 'experienced high fever' during Chinese Covid vaccine trial

Hala Zayed said she experienced side effects upon receiving both doses of the Chinese-made vaccine being tested on Egyptian volunteers, but said the 'symptoms' were nothing out of the ordinary.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab Staff

02 November, 2020

Zayed took part in clinical trials where two doses of the vaccine were administered [Getty]

Egypt's Minister of Health Hala Zayed said she experienced a high temperature after receiving a dose of the Chinese coronavirus vaccine as part of clinical trials in the north African country.

In a phone interview with Amr Adib on his Al-Hekaya show broadcast by MBC Egypt, Zayed said she experienced a fever - a common symptom of coronavirus - for three days after receiving the first dose of a Chinese-made vaccine, currently being tested in Egypt.

The minister said that she decided to participate in clinical trials of the Coronavirus vaccine out of solidarity and sending a message of reassurance to citizens.

Zayed, who said she participated in the voluntary trials to "reassure the Egyptian public" that the vaccine is safe, dismissed the side-effects as "something to be expected" and said it was not cause for concern.

The official also suffered from "side-effects" of the vaccine after receiving the second dose, but still travelled to Italy, according to her comments.

Zayed claimed there had been no "unexpected symptoms" among all participants of international trials conducted by the Chinese manufacture.

This means that the vaccine had now entered the manufacturing stage while it is being used in emergency situations in some countries.

Zayed did not give further details on the exact firm in question or the countries involved in the trials.

The official also said she will meet with the Chinese ambassador in Cairo, Liao Liqiang, following Egyptian talks with Beijing on manufacturing the vaccine.

Egypt started clinical trial in September to test two different kinds of Chinese-made vaccines on voluntary participants, who would not know what they were injected with or receive payment.

The trials were open to 6,000 volunteers to test the safety of the administered vaccine, its appropriate dosage, and whether it provides immunity, according to previous health ministry statements.

The trials for the Covid-19 vaccines, made by a "leading" Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturer that was not named.

They were carried out in cooperation with the Chinese government and UAE technology G42 Company, after Egypt was selected by China as a future African hub which gets "priority access" to a coronavirus vaccine if one is developed by Beijing.

The country has recorded a total of 108,000 coronavirus cases resulting in 6,278 deaths, while 99,555 people recovered from the infection.

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