Egypt’s Health and Population Minister Hala Zayed announced Friday that a website for anyone eager to take the Chinese vaccine for COVID-19 has been completed and will launch in the coming days.
In a phone-in with the “Egypt Can” TV show, Zayed explained that any citizen interested in registering for the vaccine can register on the site and be informed of its availability.
Egypt received, on Thursday, a shipment of Sinopharm vaccine. It will initially be given to medical staff working in isolation and fever hospitals, and will also prioritize elderly citizens with chronic health diseases residing in care homes.
And she added that the state will use its database from the “100 Million Healthy Lives” initiative to identify which groups are most in need of the vaccine and other medical development projects.
The vaccine will be free, she assured, much like the coronavirus treatment protocol which the ministry grants those infected free of charge.
She also assured that Egypt is fully capable of providing the vaccine as it has a cold chain capable of storing up to 110 million vaccine doses.
The vaccine will be given according to the priorities approved by the World Health Organization and of each country, the minister said.
It will initially be given to medical staff working in isolation and fever hospitals, and will also prioritize elderly citizens with chronic health diseases residing in care homes. Zayed added that it will also be given to people who suffer from severe chronic diseases such as kidney failure, and patients with cancer.
Zayed noted that this was the fastest vaccine ever manufactured in history, with its tests focusing on its safety rather than duration.
She also stressed that the vaccine is not mandatory.
Egypt back in August worked on preparing a vaccine production line, and won praise from the World Health Organization. The manufacturing price for Egypt and the rest of African countries is currently being negotiated.
