About 13 million citizens have been vaccinated against Covid-19 in Egypt, Minister of Health Hala Zayed said on Wednesday during a presentation about the latest coronavirus developments in the weekly cabinet meeting in Cairo.

 According to Zayed, 617,000 QR-coded certificates were issued for people wishing to travel and document their coronavirus inoculation.
Some 584,000 vaccine doses were allocated for travellers, she added.

Concerning the local production of the Sinovac vaccine, Zayed stated that five million doses were manufactured by Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA), of which 2.5 million doses will be released this week.

A new production line will be added in VACSERA’s factory in Giza governorate, she added. The line will start operating in early November with a production capacity of 300,000 doses per day.

The minister also spoke about the supply and distribution of vaccines in September, stating that from 11 to 30 September Egypt will be receiving 17 million doses of AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Sinopharm, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Sputnik, and Pfizer, in addition to five million doses of the locally produced Sinovac. Between 100,000 and 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca are to be donated to Egypt. The exact date of their arrival is yet unspecified.

Concerning the preparations to receive Pfizer BioNTech vaccines in a number of governorates, Zayed revealed that 12 large-capicty and eight medium-capacity special refrigerators to store the vaccine were distributed and installed.

Six refrigerators will be installed at the National Complex of Serums and Vaccines in Helwan, she added.

Egypt is going to receive the first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine on Thursday evening.

In late July, UNICEF granted Egypt 63 special refrigerators to store Pfizer BioNTech doses.

The minister also spoke about the strategic stock of oxygen in her presentation, stating that there is currently 3,380,000 litres of oxygen available, in addition to new 112 x-ray devices supplied to hospitals.

Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar shared in the meeting the latest developments concerning the vaccination of university staff and students.

According to Abdel-Ghaffar, there are currently 290 vaccination centres in 60 public, private, and national universities.

Until Tuesday, 304,432 Covid-19 vaccine doses were administrated, including 269,118 first doses and 35,314 second doses, the minister said.
University professors and assistants received 108,245 doses, whereas the administrators received 196,187 doses.

Egypt’s health ministry has previously stated that it was planned to vaccinate nearly three million people from academic and school staff as well as administrators and students.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly launched a campaign to encourage citizens to register and be vaccinated by presenting simple gifts for each person to register.