Egypt reported 789 new coronavirus cases and 51 deaths on Wednesday, the country's health ministry said in a statement.

The total infection tally reached 158,963, while the death toll hit 8,747 since the outbreak began domestically in mid-February.

The statement said that 511 patients have been discharged after recovering from the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to 124,605.

Egypt is preparing centres nationwide to vaccinate citizens against coronavirus, starting with priority groups.

Vaccine doses will first be provided to medical staff at quarantine, fever and chest hospitals, then patients suffering from cancer or kidney or immunity problems, patients with chronic diseases, and the elderly.

Egypt already received a first 50,000-dose batch of a coronavirus vaccine developed by China’s Sinopharm on 10 December.

The Chinese pharma giant said in late December that phase 3 trials of its vaccine found it was 79 percent effective.

Egypt’s Presidential Adviser for Health Affairs Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din said earlier this month that Egypt officially contracted with the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) to secure for Egypt 20 million doses of coronavirus vaccines.