Health Min. Inks Protocol to Vaccinate 2 Mln Citizens

Health Minister Hala Zayed signed on Tuesday a cooperation protocol to donate for vaccinating two million citizens against coronavirus.

The protocol was inked with 'Tahya Misr' Fund and Talaat Moustafa Group, according to a statement published by the Health Ministry.

Egypt is expected to receive a shipment of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine within two to three weeks from the Global Vaccine Alliance and Immunizations (GAVI).

[caption id="attachment_200561" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Hala Zayed and Talaat Mostafa[/caption]

"GAVI will provide us with 20% of our needs. The urgent needs will be delivered during the first quarter [of the year] … the beginning of delivery will start within the last week of January or the first week of February ,or within two or three weeks at most," the minister added.

"Most probably it will be the AstraZeneca vaccine," Zayed commented on the vaccine expected to be supplied by GAVI.

In November, the Egyptian government revealed an agreement with the vaccine alliance, GAVI, to provide Egypt with 20 million doses of any coronavirus vaccines that might get emergency approval from the World Health Organization (WHO).

GAVI, alongside other international organizations, aims to guarantee rapid and fair access to coronavirus vaccines worldwide, mainly for middle-income and least developed countries.