The head of the Scientific Committee to Combat Coronavirus at Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population Hossam Hosni said on Saturday that Egypt expects to reach its target percentage of vaccinated citizens by the end of May, bringing the nation a step closer to normalcy.
However he warned the pandemic has not truly ended despite a decline in cases, and caution must still be exercise.
Until the target is reached, citizens must remain careful and ensure they are vaccinated, following measures in closed places such as malls, cinemas and other gathering points.
Hosni also said that new strains of the coronavirus will continue to pop up, but noted they won’t be a major cause of concern.
The vaccine and preventive measures are the “lifeline” to avoid infection and eliminate the virus completely, he stated.
The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population announced on Saturday that the average number of daily infections with COVID-19 during the last week reached eight cases, while the average daily death toll was four new cases.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population, Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar, said in a statement that the average daily number of people recovering from coronavirus last week reached 20 – bringing the total number of people recovering from the virus so far to 445,282.
And the number of people fully vaccinated against the coronavirus is now up to 34,508,460 people.
The Health and Population Ministry confirmed on March 12 the end of the peak of the fifth wave after the decline and stability of daily infections with COVID-19, noting that vaccines play a major role in the decline in infections and severity of diseases.
The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population has made its report on infections, deaths and recovery from COVID-19 to be at the beginning of each week instead of daily.
This move follows the recession of the fifth wave of the pandemic and the decline in infection rates at almost constant rates for two consecutive weeks in addition to the decrease in hospitalization rates, the statement said.
Vaccinations with the third booster dose began on December 21 in Egypt.
Egypt was able in a short time to provide all coronavirus vaccines, including Sinovac, Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Sputnik, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Moderna, as part of the state’s plan to diversify and expand the provision of coronavirus vaccines.
The Ministry of Health and Population called on citizens to register on the ministry’s website to receive the vaccine, stressing that the state spares no effort in providing vaccines to citizens for free, through permanent cooperation with international organizations and bodies.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
