Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly delegated the Ministers of Health and Finance to take the necessary measures and procedures to contract Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, in order to provide Egypt with 20 million dose of the coronavirus vaccine, the Egyptian government announced.

In the weekly cabinet meeting, Minister of Heath Hala Zayed was also directed to start preparations to contract companies producing vaccines to secure the biggest number of doses.

Zayed explained during the cabinet meeting that Moderna, the American biotechnology company manufacturing a vaccine, has applied to the Federal Drug Agency (FDA) for emergency authorisation for its product after the results from a late-stage study showed it was 94.1% effective with no serious safety concerns.

She added that if Moderna is granted approval, vaccination may start in the US on 21 December.

Zayed also presented a follow up report on the situation of the coronavirus in Egypt, highlighting a recent increase in recorded cases in Cairo, Giza, and Alexandria.

Egypt has officially registered 116,303 cases of coronavirus, including 6,666 fatalities and 102,816 recoveries since the start of the pandemic.

Russia's sovereign wealth fund had agreed in September to supply 25 million doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine to Egypt via Pharco, one of Russia's leading pharmaceutical groups.

Britain, on Wednesday, became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for use, and said that it will be rolled out starting early next week.