The Minister of Pharmaceutical Industry, Abderrahmane Djamel Lotfi Benbahmad, said today, Wednesday, in Constantine, that the anti-Covid-19 vaccine, which Algeria started to produce today, will be exported to African countries by 2023.
In a speech delivered during the ceremony of the launch of the vaccine production, organized at the Marriott Hotel in the provincial capital, as part of the working visit of the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to Constantine, the minister said that the “AfricaVac” initiative to export the anti-Covid-19 vaccine to African countries by 2023 reflects the ambitious production capacity of Saidal Group.
He added that it is expected to produce 5.3 million doses of the anti-Covid-19 vaccine next January, at a production rate of 320,000 doses per day.
According to the Minister, this production rate will allow to meet the national needs, estimated at 65 million doses, “to move later on to the next phase which is export to meet the needs of neighboring countries.”
Mr. Benbahmad indicated, “It is expected that the production capacity during 2022 will reach a total of 96 million vaccine doses and 8 million doses per month, thanks to the human and industrial capabilities possessed by Saidal Group, which, if it operates with a shift system, will be able to produce 200 million vaccine doses per year by 2023.”
According to Mr. Benbahmad, “it is possible to reach this production rate without resorting to mobilizing other production units.”
The minister also stated that the production of this vaccine came “in implementation of the directives of the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, after a partnership contract was concluded last July with the friendly country China.”
In order to achieve this, the minister went on to say, several teams from Saidal Group benefited from practical and theoretical training in order to obtain technical qualifications regarding vaccine quality control.
A sectoral committee has also been established at the Ministry of Pharmaceutical Industry that includes, in addition to the ministry’s executives, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the national community abroad, the National Agency for Health Security, Pasteur Institute of Algeria and the National Agency for Pharmaceutical Substances, according to the same official.
Mr. Benbahmad explained that one of the tasks of this committee is “to ensure that Saidal Group get the necessary support to expedite the implementation of the vaccine production project.”
