Egypt’s first Fashion Week is coming this fall: The Egyptian Fashion and Design Council (EFDC) held the pre-launch of the inaugural Egypt Fashion Week — scheduled for 3-5 November in Cairo — earlier this month at the historic Museum of Agriculture Cotton, where the event will take place this fall, according to a statement (pdf). The fashion week, which “blends a celebration of our civilization, a synopsis of our present and our vision for the future” under the theme “The Past, Present, and Future,” is set to feature the work of dozens of designers.

Are you an Egyptian designer who wants to participate? EFDC is accepting applications to Egypt Fashion Week until mid-September. Email info@the-efdc.com for the details and to apply.

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African vaccine production facilities struggle to remain commercially viable as demand fizzles out across the continent: In Africa, only 5% of the population has received a covid-19 booster shot and less than a third of the 60 mn population are double vaccinated, the Financial Times reports, citing WHO data. The figures reflect a lack of demand for vaccines from Africans which has led vaccine production facilities on the brink of closure, public health officials say. One of these facilities is South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare, which signed an agreement to sell the Johnson and Johnson covid-19 vaccines. However, only six months later, the factory can’t find enough customers to continue operations.

Why aren’t Africans getting jabbed? Covid-19 hasn’t wrought as much havoc as it has in other places, with Africa accounting for only 8.3% of the world’s 14.9 mn deaths from the virus, according to WHO figures. Epidemiologists suggest that the low death rate could be due to Africa having the most young people across the world, with a median age of 19.7 versus 42.5 in Europe.

This doesn’t fare very well for the future: Getting vaccine manufacturing up to par was important at the height of the pandemic, but continuing the industry’s development is also essential to fight back against future diseases. The lack of vaccinations across the continent could also mean Africa could continue to experience the spread of covid and give rise to more variants after the virus becomes endemic elsewhere.

How are Egypt’s facilities doing? We haven’t heard much about Egypt’s local vaccine production facilities in a while, with the latest being the Egyptian Medicines Authority receiving accreditation from the World Health Organization for its locally-made vaccines back in April. The accreditation makes it easier for Egypt to export locally-made vaccines, such as the Chinese Sinovac shot with the country also planning to eventually produce an mRNA derivative.