Egypt to receive 300K doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine

CAIRO – 22 February 2021: Egypt is to receive 300,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine as a gift from China to Cairo, later on Monday according to spokesperson of Ministry of Health Khaled Megahed.

He added that Minster of Health Hala Zayed is doing all possible efforts to secure COVID-19 vaccines to all Egyptians in order to protect them from Corona infections.

Earlier in February, Egypt has approved the emergency use of Chinese sinopharm vaccine and the UK- AstraZeneca vaccine according to Minster of Health Hala Zayed.

She added in statements to MBC privet channel, that the Ministry will start vaccinating the elderly along with people with chronic diseases against COVID, in mid-February.

Egypt received the first batch of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine (50,000 doses) on Sunday.

The Egyptian Authority for Unified Procurement, Medical Supply and Technology Management (AUPP) contracted with the British-Swedish pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company to get 20 million doses of the Coronavirus vaccine.

Major General Doctor Bahaa El-Din Zidan, Chairman of the AUPP Board of Directors said that vaccines are safe and effective, saying “we support all the state's efforts to confront the Coronavirus, especially in providing vaccines and drugs.”

Spokesperson of the Health Ministry Khaled Megahed said in media remarks to the “DMC Evening” talk show, that the Egyptian Drug Authority is taking the necessary measures for authorizing the Russian Coronavirus vaccine.

He continued that the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine is optional, adding that those who want to receive the vaccine should register through an online website.

Egypt has recently started vaccinating the medical teams in isolation hospitals, then the senior citizens and people with chronic disease would receive their shots later, he said.

A total of 1,315 medical personnel in isolation hospitals have been vaccinated against the virus for far, while more than 3,000 people registered online to receive the vaccine.

The Health Ministry said Sunday that 608 new coronavirus cases were detected, upping the total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak in the country began to 178,151.

In a statement, Spokesman for the Health Ministry Khaled Megahed said 55 patients have died from the virus over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 10,353.

As many as 543 patients were discharged from isolation hospitals after receiving necessary medical care, taking the number of recovered cases to 137,837 so far, the spokesman said.