EDA’s Mahmoud Yassin: License was given after the vaccine had passed through the authority’s assessment and evaluation process Emergency EDA licenses were previously granted to the Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V and AZD1222 vaccines CAIRO: The Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) has authorized the emergency use of China’s CoronaVac. Mahmoud Yassin, who is the EDA’s head of Central Administration for Biological and Innovative Products, said Monday that the license was given after the vaccine had passed through the authority’s assessment and evaluation process while also following local and international rules to ensure the jab’s effectiveness and quality. Emergency EDA licenses were previously granted to the Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V and AZD1222 vaccines. Last week Egypt signed two agreements with China’s Sinovac allowing it to have local manufacturing rights. The Russian Direct Investment Fund also announced an agreement with Egyptian firm Minapharm to produce more than 40 million doses of Sputnik V. These steps are part of the government’s efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak and provide vaccines to everyone in Egypt.