Over 8.2 million people have been fully vaccinated with the two recommended jabs.

Minister Zayed explained that the total administered doses include 15.1 million initial doses and 8.2 million second doses since the start of the country's vaccination campaign earlier this year.

Vaccination providers have inoculated around 3.3 million public employees, in addition to 2.1 million in the pre-university education sector, and 1 million in the university sector.

The minister said that all but 1.2 million eligible registered employees and students at educational institutions have been inoculated, and that the ministry aims to vaccinate the remaining employees and students within one week.

The government has mandated coronavirus vaccination for all public employees, in addition to teaching staff, employees, and workers, as well as students who are 18 years or older at lower and higher education institutions.

Unvaccinated workers and students are not allowed into workplaces, schools, and universities, starting Saturday, unless they are jabbed with at least one dose of a vaccine or provide proof of negative COVID-19 testing more than once a week.

Also, public employees who are not vaccinated must provide proof of negative COVID-19 testing more than once a week at their expense or they will not be allowed into workplaces as of 22 November, according to a government decree.

As the country seeks to ramp vaccinations, Zayed said the health ministry is planning to increase the number of the vaccination centres from 1,100 to 2,002 by installing new camps at all public hospitals countrywide.

Egypt to produce 250 mln Sinovac doses

The minister also said that a deal was reached with China to increase the amount of locally-manufactured Sinovac vaccines to 250 million doses by 2023.

Egypt is locally producing around 40 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine under an agreement reached between Egypt's Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA) and China’s Sinovac biopharmaceutical company in April 2020.

The Chinese company agreed to increase the supply of raw materials to Egypt by 2023, enough to produce about 250 million doses, Zayed said at today’s meeting.

Zayed said the country has thus far received nearly 60 million doses of the Chinese Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines, the British-Swedish AstraZeneca, the Russian Sputnik V, and the American Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines.