Egypt vaccinates 149K individuals, to acquire total of 4.5M doses by June

CAIRO – 4 April 2021: Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed stated Sunday that 148,987 medics and citizens of priority (aged above 40 and/or suffering from chronic diseases) have got vaccinated until the evening of April 3.

The minister instructed extending working hours at vaccination centers from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. as well as increasing the number of medical staff at those facilities. However, she urged serving a maximum of 100 citizens per day.

The ministry eyes offering vaccination for workers in the tourism sector in the next period given that the season of summer holidays is about to start.  

The minister pointed out that Egypt has received 854,400 doses of anti-COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca within Covax mechanism since January. Egypt is set to acquire 40 million doses of that vaccine over batches in 2021.

Speaking of Sinopharm vaccine, Zayed said that 780,000 have been delivered to Egypt, while 900,000 will be sent within weeks. In total, Egypt would be acquiring 4.5 million doses of different types of vaccines by the end of May.  

As a consequence, 200 vaccination centers will be added – including 40 in Greater Cairo – for the total to become 339. The vaccination process began through 40 centers that were raised to 139 in March.