Egypt to receive another 300,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses: health minister

Egypt to receive another 300,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses: health minister

Egypt will receive 300,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccines developed by China's Sinopharm as a gift, Health Minister Hala Zayed said on Tuesday, without revealing the exact date of their arrival.

China last week gifted 300,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses to Egypt. The first batch of the Chinese vaccine was sent to Egypt in December last year, consisting of 50,000 doses.

The country also imported 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in India late in January and is set to receive 8.6 million doses of this vaccine soon.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on Tuesday, Zayed said the state is preparing to start vaccinating the elderly and people suffering from chronic diseases, who have registered to reserve the vaccine within hours, a statement by the cabinet said.

All citizens above the age of 18 could apply for the vaccination online on the website (https://egcovac.mohp.gov.eg) but the priority is given to citizens above 65 and others suffering from chronic diseases.

Concerning a national health campaign that has been launched between 28 February and 3 March to vaccinate children below five against Poliovirus, Zayed said 14 million children have been vaccinated over the past two days.

The campaign