Egypt Receives 1.6 Million Doses of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine

Egypt received, Thursday, more than million and half dozes of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine, Health Ministry announced.

"One million and 612 thousand and 260 doses of the Pfizer vaccine arrived today at Cairo International Airport," Health Minister Dr. Hala Zayed announced. “The shipment represents the first batch of 5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine."

Zayed pointed out that the shipment is provided by the US government through the "COfax" mechanism in cooperation with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI).

On his part, Health Ministry Spokesman Khaled Megahed said the vaccine had emergency use approval from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA), adding that doses are given at least 21 days apart.

Meantime, Egypt plans to vaccinate 40 million citizens by the end of the year, representing around 40% of the population.

On Wednesday, the ministry announced receiving more than four million doses of Coronavirus vaccine produced by the Chinese company “Sinopharm”.

The Ministry has affirmed in a post on its official page on “Facebook” that the vaccine is safe, effective, and stimulates the immune system to form antibodies to protect the body from the virus.