Egypt to vaccinate children aged 12-15 with Pfizer, Sinovac vaccines

CAIRO – 29 November 2021: Egypt’s Cabinet Spokesman Nader Saad said teenagers aged 12-15 will get Covid-19 vaccination.

He added in televised statements to Al Hayat TV channel, that the decision to administer vaccine for this age group has been taken under the approval of the World Health Organization.

He pointed out that this age group will be allowed to register for vaccination starting from the first week of December and will be notified about the time and place of the vaccination with Pfizer vaccines.

He added that it is difficult to give Pfizer vaccines at schools because the vaccine needs cool temperature provided only by certain refrigerators, however it will be available at vaccination centers.

Presidential Health Adviser Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din also said that it was approved to vaccinate children from 12 to 15 years of age with the Pfizer and Sinovac vaccines due to having an international approval and license to use them both.

He also noted that Egypt has now a huge number of vaccines available in stock, as other vaccines are still expected to arrive soon.

Egypt did not record any cases with the Omicron variant until now, according to Presidential Health Adviser Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din on Monday.

He added in televised statements that mutations and changes in viruses are ‘very natural’, whether the virus was coronavirus or any other virus.

He noted that: “Scientifically, when an individual’s personal immunity is formed with repeated infection or by receiving vaccinations, them the virus as a living organism is trying to defend itself and mutates. This is a very normal thing.”

“No matter how coronavirus has mutated. As long as we didn’t notice changes in the rates of the virus spread or symptoms and their severity, no need to concern about it.” Tag El-Din said.

Egypt’s Health Ministry said on Sunday night that 951 new coronavirus cases were detected in Egypt over the past 24 hours, upping the total number of infections to 356,718.

Health Ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar said 42 patients died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 20,347

As many as 733 patients were discharged from hospitals after receiving medical care, taking the number of recoveries to 296,167, it added.

The Ministry of Health and Population announced Sunday the reception of 3.89 million doses of Pfizer vaccine through Covax and Gavi.

The consignment arrived at Cairo International Airport on Saturday evening being the second of its kind in less than a week.

Cairo International Airport received on Wednesday 3,688,500 doses of the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, Acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said.

The shipment, delivered through COVAX and in cooperation with the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), comprises 2,388,500 AstraZeneca shots and 1.3 million Johnson & Johnson shots provided by the United States, Abdel Ghaffar noted.

A total of 29 million citizens have received the first coronavirus vaccine shot, Cabinet Spokesman Nader Saad said on Wednesday, noting that those who also received the second shot totals 15 million.

Egypt has started its vaccination campaign in January this year.