Zayed Says Egypt Received a Total of 33.6 Mln COVID-19 Doses

On Wednesday, the Egyptian Minister of Health, Hala Zayed, said that the country has received 33,678 coronavirus vaccine doses since the beginning of the inoculation campaign launched earlier this year.

The doses are an amalgam of the AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Sinopharm, Sputnik, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, the Minister added.

During a cabinet meeting, Zayed stated that from 18 to 24 September, 1.926 million doses of the locally produced Sinovac-VACSERA vaccine are scheduled to be distributed among the 830 vaccination centers nationwide, including those allocated for travelers.

The minister highlighted the ongoing preparations for receiving Pfizer doses in a number of governorates, in which the total storage capacity has reached 4.366 million after purchasing and locally distributing 600 refrigerators.

On 24 September, Egypt will receive its first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine – which needs special refrigerators to store vials at 2°C to 8°C – containing 612,000 jabs, as part of a total of 1.6 million doses, the health ministry spokesman said earlier in TV statements.

According to the health ministry, a shipment of more than one million doses of AstraZeneca will arrive at Cairo International Airport on Wednesday evening.

This is the third major shipment Egypt receives in less than a week. A shipment arrived in two batches consisting of 546,400 doses of AstraZeneca donated by France via COVAX last weekend, and 850,560 doses donated by Germany via COVAX, were received on Monday, according to UNICEF.