An official at the Egyptian Health and Population Ministry announced Saturday that an Egyptian vaccine will be available by the end of the year that will safely and effectively eliminate the coronavirus.
The head of the Preventive Medicine Sector at the ministry Alaa Eid said that this Egyptian vaccine has already completed clinical trials on citizens. In addition, the Egyptian Drug Authority has licensed manufacturing for the experimental sample, with Eid adding that approval would come within a few days.
In a telephone interview with the “Hadith al-Qahira” (Cairo Talk) show on the “al-Qahira wal Nas” (Cairo and the People) channel, Eid noted that infections in Egypt continuously fluctuate with increases brought on by people underestimating the disease.
He stressed that public campaigns must be provided to educate citizens about the importance of vaccination and wearing facemasks.
Eid added that coronavirus cases are rising globally overall, with the international health community having met to provide funding and fairly distribute vaccines worldwide, aiming to provide two billion doses to citizens in less than a year.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s Health and Population Ministry on Saturday confirmed 644 new coronavirus cases.
The ministry also reported 45 deaths and 233 recovered cases.
Egypt has now reported 194,771 confirmed cases, 149,489 recovered, and 11,557 deaths.
A third wave of the virus is coming, warned President Sisi’s health adviser Mohamed Tag al-Din, forecasting that celebrations during the holy month of Ramadan will likely lead to an increase in cases.
Egypt launched its vaccination campaign on January 24. The Health Ministry is currently working to vaccinate medical staff, people over the age of 65, and those with chronic illnesses. The ministry has opened registration for the jab online.
The vaccine will cost no more than LE200 per person, Health Minister Hala Zayed announced, with low-income folks eligible to get their doses for free.
Egypt is currently using China’s Sinopharm vaccine for its campaign will soon receive a shipment of six million doses of the UK’s AstraOxford vaccine.
The ministry also plans to employ Russia’s Sputnik-V vaccine, once it makes its way to Cairo.
AstraOxford and Sputnik-V received emergency approval from the Egyptian Drug Authority on February 24.
So far, 100 million doses of the vaccine have been secured by the ministry, which is enough to vaccinate roughly half of Egypt’s population.
