The Egyptian Authority for Unified Procurement, Medical Supply and Technology Management announced Saturday that the first shipment of the British Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will arrive in Egypt on Sunday.
The authority has contracted AstraZeneca to get 20 million shots of the vaccine.
The Health Ministry launched a vaccination campaign for medical staff in isolation hospitals across the country with the Chinese vaccine, Sinopharm.
Egypt launched its vaccination campaign on January 24, however, officials are predicting a slow rollout as the country waits for the arrival of vaccine orders. The ministry is currently using China’s Sinopharm vaccine.
Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed announced Friday that 1,315 medical workers have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine in 22 isolation and fever hospitals from Monday until Thursday evening thus far.
The ministry’s spokesperson Khaled Megahed said that the doses of Sinopharm vaccine were sent Monday to health directorates all across the country, distributed to isolation, chest, and fever hospitals to vaccinate staff working there free of charge.
Egypt has officially entered the second wave of the pandemic, after cases rose steadily throughout November and December.
The second wave hit its peak on December 30, when the health ministry reported 1,411 new cases. Since then, the case count has plunged.
Government officials continue to urge the public to adhere to precautionary measures against the virus, and the Egyptian Cabinet has called on authorities to strictly enforce the country’s mask mandate, which applies to all public transportation and indoor public spaces.
Egypt’s Health Ministry announced 589 new coronavirus cases on Friday, bringing the country’s total number of confirmed cases up to 164,871.
The total number of COVID-19-related deaths has now reached 9,217 nationwide, after the ministry announced 48 deaths on Friday.
And 360 patients were discharged from quarantine at isolation hospitals, raising Egypt’s total number of fully-recovered cases to 128,800.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
