Egypt Starts Vaccinations for Frontline Medical Workers

Egypt’s Ministry of Health officially began rolling out vaccinations as of Sunday January 24. The first phase of vaccinations are being given to medical teams across the country, beginning with the medical staff of Ismailia’s Abu Khalifa Hospital.

Following the vaccination of medical workers at the isolation, fever, chest and screening hospitals, priority will then be given to kidney failure and cancer patients, followed by elderly citizens. 

According to Al-Ahram, Egypt’s target is to vaccinate around 207,000 in medical staff in isolation as well as in chest and fever hospitals nationwide. 

The vaccine currently being administered is China’s Sinopharma coronavirus vaccine, which consists of two shots being given 21 days apart. 

The first batch of Sinopharma vaccines were received in December and tested by the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) to ensure safety. 

Egypt will also purchase 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to an announcement made on Saturday by The Egyptian Authority for Unified Procurement, Medical Supply and the Management of Medical Technology (UPA).

It is within plans to secure 40 million doses of one of the coronavirus vaccines for 20 million citizens through the vaccine alliance GAVI. The first batch of these vaccines are scheduled to arrive within the first quarter of 2021, while the rest will be rolled-out throughout the year.

It is still unclear as to whether the vaccines will be available free of charge for all citizens or not. 

Egypt currently has a total of 162,000 coronavirus cases with 126,000 recoveries.