President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has received his first dose of the vaccine today as a part of the national COVID-19 vaccine campaign, according to the official website of the Egyptian Presidency. This comes as Egypt’s Ministry of Health continues to warn of a new wave of the pandemic urging Egyptians to register for a vaccine and to maintain health and safety precautions. At least 525,000 Egyptian citizens have been vaccinated as of the 24th of April. According to a statement from Minister of Health Hala Zayed, all Red Sea and South Sinai tourism workers have received the vaccine. This follows news that the Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA) and Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac signed an agreement to manufacture 40 million doses of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine annually, which was announced in the Minister’s statement on the 23rd of April. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Health Minister Hala Zayed and Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang. During a press conference on Friday, Minister Hala Zayed noted that Egypt will produce the first five million doses of Sinovac vaccine locally within the next…
