Tag El-Din’s remarks come few days after Egypt’s Acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar confirmed to the media that Egypt is witnessing a rise in Omicron cases.

Egypt has been seeing a sharp surge in coronavirus cases, especially in the past week, as the country has been struggling with the fourth coronavirus wave since August.

In remarks to the media, Tag El-Din said most of the current coronavirus cases in Egypt are mild, and that Omicron symptoms resemble that of the seasonal flu.

The health ministry has urged people suffering from common cold symptoms to consider that they may have contracted COVID-19, and should therefore self-isolate and avoid sharing personal tools with family members.

The health ministry says it detected the first three Omicron cases in mid-December in Egyptian nationals who had returned from abroad at Cairo International Airport.

Tag El-Din said more than 14 Egyptian companies will manufacture a coronavirus drug, without naming the companies or the drug.

AstraZeneca announced on Sunday that the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) has granted AstraZeneca’s ‘Evusheld’ emergency use authorisation.

Egypt is expected to receive its first shipments of Pfizer and AstraZeneca coronavirus drugs in January, Egyptian health ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar said earlier.

By the end of this month, Egypt will receive Pfizer’s Paxlovid pills required for the treatment of 20,000 coronavirus patients, as well as Evusheld coronavirus antibody required to treat 50,000 patients, Abdel-Ghaffar told the media.