Egypt's Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed has announced that the country will receive about 3.9 million doses of the Sinopharm, Sinovac, and AstraZeneca vaccines against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) by June 16. This is in addition to the supply of 2,000 litres of concentrates for the manufacture of 3 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine, according to Zayed during her speech in the weekly cabinet meeting. The vaccine will be produced in Egyptian factories. The minister explained that by 5 June, 500,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine will be supplied, 1 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine will be supplied on 13 June, whilst a further 500,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine will be supplied on 16 June. Additionally, 1.9 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be supplied during June. During the meeting, Zayed reviewed the latest developments in dealing with the coronavirus, noting that the weekly rate of infections has declined in terms of numbers of infections that were recorded. The domestic decline in cases has coincided with a global decline. She stressed the importance of continuing to apply all preventive and precautionary measures to deal with the pandemic, in an effort to reduce the number of cases and limit its spread. Moreover, the minister addressed the efforts to expand the places for providing vaccines, which have so far reached 408 centres. She added that the vaccination centres for international travellers, which provide anti-malaria vaccines for instance, were also provided with COVID-19 vaccines in order to facilitate citizen travel. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, who chaired the cabinet meeting, stressed that the government with the COVID-19 precautionary measures will proceed with utmost decisiveness. It aims to preserve the health and safety of all citizens, with fines and closure decisions to be applied to violators as part of this. Madbouly called on citizens to register for vaccination against COVID-19 as soon as possible, whilst also directing to intensify work at vaccination centres so that the largest possible number of citizens can get the vaccine. In the meantime, Zayed reviewed her ministry's plan to deal with exams at various educational stages. She noted that the plan aims to prevent the spread of the coronavirus within educational institutions through early detection and immediate isolation of suspected cases, and the provision of appropriate treatment. The plan also aims to prepare and provide human and material capabilities to confront emergencies related to the spread of the disease within educational facilities, and achieve a high degree of safety during exams.
