Egypt to Mandate COVID-19 Vaccinations in Public Institutions, Vaccinate 800K Daily

Presidential Adviser for Health Dr. Awad Tag El-Din announced on Monday, 16 August that vaccination will become mandatory in all public institutions in Egypt, following his warnings that Egypt may be on the brink of a fourth COVID-19 wave if infections continue to rise. He also stated that no COVID-19 mutations have been detected in Egypt so far.

In a statement provided on the Al-Hayat Channel, Tag El-Din stated that “vaccination will be mandatory to work in governmental institutions.”

This follows Health Minister Hala Zayed’s announcement that Egypt plans to vaccinate 800,000 individuals per day, with an objective to reach 35.353 million vaccinated individuals.

Vaccination priority will go towards university and school students and staff in preparation of the upcoming academic year, according to Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

Egypt started its vaccination rollout campaign in January 2021 for medical personnel, and began targeting individuals with chronic diseases and the elderly in March.

Currently, there are 580 vaccination centers across the country, 134 of which are for travelers, according to Zayed.

Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed stated that Egypt received 1,766,400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on 13 August as part of the COVAX initiative, which is the third shipment among several others aiming to provide a total of 40 million doses.

Earlier this month, the country received 261,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and on 5 July it had announced the production of the first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine made in Egypt in partnership with Chinese firm Sinovac, with an objective to produce 80 million doses this year.

As of 17 August, Egypt has recorded a total of 285,465 COVID-19 cases, 16,625 deaths, and 234,250 recoveries.

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