A man receives a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Cairo, Egypt March 4, 2021. REUTERS
Tag El-Din said Egypt is pushing ahead with efforts to reach its goal of vaccinating 40 per cent of the population by the end of 2021, noting that the country is providing more facilities to encourage more people to be jabbed, including offering immediate vaccination without prior registration.
Egypt, with 1,079 fixed vaccination centres nationwide, has inoculated nearly 25 million people since the start of its vaccination campaign earlier this year.
Egypt is administering the Sinopharm, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Moderna vaccines.
On Saturday, the country started operating walk-in vaccination centres at Cairo metro stations to ease the pressure on hospitals and medical centres, and to help those who find it difficult to deal with online registration.
With daily tallies exceeding 900 infections, the country is going through the peak of the fourth wave, which started in early August.
However, the pandemic is under control, with most of the detected cases not needing to be hospitalised, Tag El-Din said.
"Only 10 to 15 per cent of the detected cases need intensive care or ventilators," he added.
Starting Monday, all government employees are asked to show proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test to access their workplaces.
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