Egypt receives 3rd Pfizer coronavirus vaccine shipment

CAIRO - 23 October 2021: Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed said on Saturday that Egypt received the third shipment of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine at Cairo airport on Friday comprising 1.4 million doses offered by the US government through the COVAX initiative in cooperation with Gavi, the vaccine alliance.

US Ambassador Jonathan R. Cohen had said last week that the Pfizer vaccines are a direct donation from the people of the United States to the people of Egypt. “This is part of eight million Pfizer vaccine doses the United States is sending to Egypt.”

The shipments are part of 500 million Pfizer vaccine doses donated by the US to the African Union countries through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX).

Egypt's first Pfizer vaccines shipment arrived from the US in late September.

Spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Population Dr Khaled Megahed said the World Health Organization (WHO) had approved an emergency use for the two- shot Pfizer vaccine.

The vaccine shipment will undergo safety testing before being distributed among vaccination centers nationwide, according to him. 

President's Consultant for Health Affairs Awad Tag el-Din stated in a phone-in Wednesday that 21 million citizens got 32 million doses of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine as a portion of them have not received the second dose yet.

Tag el-Din added that the fourth wave in Egypt has not ended yet, noting it is still not so bad, which has allowed schools to operate normally.

On Saturday, Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said unvaccinated employees will not be allowed to enter to workplace within a short period of time.

Madbouly, in a meeting with governors, affirmed the availability of vaccine doses, urging governors to make sure all employees in the administrative bodies are vaccinated.

The premier urged governors to intensify awareness campaign regarding the importance of vaccination, especially in light of the Ministry of Health’s readiness to provide the required vaccine doses.

Earlier this month, Spokesman for the Ministry of Health Khaled Megahed said Egypt will soon manufacture the US coronavirus vaccine Moderna.

He told Egypt Today that the negotiations are underway with the parent company in this regard.