Egypt detected 581 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing its total infections tally nationwide to 186,503 since the outbreak last year, a statement by the health ministry said. The health ministry reported 41 new deaths, bringing overall fatalities from the virus nationwide to 10,995. The statement added that 444 patients have been discharged from hospitals over the past 24 hours to mark total recoveries at 144,019. The country has started its coronavirus vaccination campaign in January, vaccinating thousands of health workers nationwide. It also began the vaccination rollout for priority groups on Thursday, which include the elderly and people with chronic diseases who registered via a designated website. The Health Ministry on Sunday announced launching an English-language version of the website to enable foreigners residing in Egypt to get the vaccine. Egypt has received 350,000 doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine and 50,000 doses of the British-Swedish Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine since December. Both vaccines were granted emergency use authorisation by Egyptian authorities earlier this year. The Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine was also authorised for emergency use in February; yet has not yet been delivered to Egypt.
