Egypt's Health Minister calls for free Covid-19 vaccine for low-income states, says medical staff to be prioritized

CAIRO - 14 October 2020: Minister of Health Hala Zayed has called on the World Health Organization to provide Covid-19 vaccines for free once proven effective for low-income countries and reasonable prices for medium-income countries.

 

On Tuesday, the minister headed the 67th round of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean. She emphasized the importance of coordiantion between the WHO and other organizations to open the economy while combating the novel coronavirus, saying that the WHO will remain to be "the big home for all medical staff."

 

Zayed also highlighted that in Egypt those who will be prioritized once a vaccine is available are the medical staff who work at quarantine hospitals, and then senior citizens and those who are chronically ill, pregnant women, and people with autoimmune diseases. 

 

Egypt relies at this point on Chinese vaccines, and if another is made available, it will be provided for Egyptians quickly, she continued.