Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait, announced on Friday that the state will be allocating two billion LE to fund vaccinations against the coronavirus and combat repercussions of the third wave currently sweeping the nation.
In a statement, he explained that LE13.2 billion has been made available to the health sector in its various institutions since the beginning of the current fiscal year until now, of which LE1.3 billion was allocated towards university hospitals.
The president has issued orders to any additional funds needed for the health sector to combat the third wave, Maait added, ensuring that adequate funding is in place to import further vaccines and meet all hospital needs.
Maait stressed that the health of its citizens is top priority for the government, which is shown in its increasing desire to provide an open budget for the health sector
Egypt’s Health Ministry on Friday confirmed 1,197 new coronavirus cases, 56 deaths, and 556 recovered cases. The country has now reported a total of 243,317 cases, 14,206 deaths, and 179,817 recoveries.
Egypt’s vaccination campaign that began in January is still working to vaccinate medical staff, people over the age of 65, and those with chronic illnesses, but registration for the jab is open to all.
Egypt is currently using China’s Sinopharm vaccine and the UK’s AstraOxford vaccine. The Ministry of Health announced that it will soon begin producing Russia’s Sputnik V and China’s Sinovac vaccines at VACSERA.
On Thursday, Egypt received 1.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine through the COVAX initiative and 500,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine, the Health Ministry reported.
The AstraZeneca doses are the second batch of their kind under the COVAX agreement, which stipulates a total of 40 million doses overall, Health Minister Hala Zayed said.
Egypt will soon receive the raw materials to manufacture China’s Sinovac vaccine, under an agreement signed between VACSERA and the Chinese company.
The materials are enough to make 2.25 million vaccine doses, Ministry Spokesperson Khaled Megahed said, adding that the ministry expects that VACSERA will produce roughly 40 million doses of the vaccine by the end of the year.
