Egypt has secured more than 84 million doses of all coronavirus vaccines, including Sinovac, Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, Sputnik, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Moderna.

The health ministry is accelerating its vaccination campaign in an attempt to reach its target of inoculating 40 million by the end of 2021, urging people to register on the ministry’s website to receive the vaccine, according to the statement.

The rate of vaccination in Egypt has increased to nearly 460,000 per day, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said on Saturday night in a TV statement.

About 30 million people have so far received the first shot while more than 15 million have been fully immunised, Abdel-Ghaffar added.

Egypt has tightened pandemic related safety measures at its ports due to mounting concerns over the Omicron variant, suspending direct flights with South Africa starting 27 November, and imposing travel restrictions on passengers flying indirectly to Cairo from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Eswatini, Mozambique and Lesotho.

Passengers coming from those countries to Cairo as a final destination through transit flights or stopping at Cairo International Airport as a transit point before reaching their final destination will take a rapid test.

Egypt has made coronavirus vaccination mandatory for several sectors in the country, including the public sector, and since 15 November, unvaccinated employees have not been allowed to enter their workplaces unless they present a negative PCR test every 15 days.

Starting 1 December, the state will not allow unvaccinated persons to enter government facilities.

Last Wednesday, the government approved a third booster shot for the most vulnerable groups in the country, estimated at more than 4 million, starting early December.

These groups, according to the cabinet, include patients who suffer from immunodeficiency, patients undergoing immunosuppressive therapy, the elderly, and healthcare workers provided that they took their second shot at least six months ago.

Egypt has recorded a total of 355,767 coronavirus infections so far, including 20,305 deaths and 295,434 recoveries.