Egypt to receive 5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines by May

Egypt will receive 5 million doses of Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine by early May, Health Ministry spokesperson Khaled Megahed said. (File/AFP)

• Health minister said 5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine are expected to be imported through COVAX
• On Friday Egypt received a shipment of more than 850,000 vaccine doses

CAIRO: Egypt will receive 5 million doses of Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine by early May, Health Ministry spokesperson Khaled Megahed said.
Health Minister Hala Zayed has said that 5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine are expected to be imported through COVAX, co-led by the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
On Friday Egypt received a shipment of more than 850,000 vaccine doses.
Egypt is set to receive an additional 3 million doses in May, the minister said, on top of the 350,000 Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine doses already received.
Zayed thanked the WHO and UNICEF for their constant support.
According to the statement, the number of health centers administering vaccinations will be increased to 339 on Sunday to stop the overcrowding witnessed in the past days. Cairo Governorate alone will set up 40 new vaccination centers.
Megahed said that 800,000 people have registered on the official website to receive vaccinations.
He said that if there were a rise in registrations, it would be possible to increase the number of vaccination centers to 5,000, which would enable the ministry to vaccinate 12.5 million citizens in 25 days.