China will provide Egypt with 300,000 doses of its Sinopharm vaccination “soon”, Beijing’s ambassador to Cairo announced, as Egypt continues to push forward with its immunisation campaign against the pandemic for its frontliners.

“China will soon provide 300,000 doses - enough to vaccinate 150,000 people - of the Chinese vaccine. This comes under the the frame of deepening our friendship and bolstering cooperation between the two countries in facing the pandemic,” Liao Liqiang, the Chinese Ambassador to Egypt, announced on Twitter on Thursday evening.

Egypt has started its vaccination campaign against coronavirus using the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine late January by inoculating hundreds of medical workers at quarantine hospitals.

The roll-out would see each person receiving two shots administered 21 days apart.

Minister of Health Hala Zayed said in a press conference on Wednesday that the ministry has concluded the vaccination of medical staff in 22 isolation hospitals nationwide.

The ministry began vaccinating health staff in 86 chest and fever hospitals nationwide as a second phase of the immunisation program, she added.

Egypt approved the emergency use of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine in early January, with priority of the vaccination program given to medical front-liners, patients suffering from chronic diseases and the elderly.
 
The first batch of vaccines consisting of 50,000 doses, which Egypt received in December, was tested by the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) to ensure its safety for use.

Egypt is looking at boosting and diversifying its supply of coronavirus vaccines to face the outbreak in the overpopulous country which many fear could overwhelm the country’s health system.

On 31 January, Egypt received the 50,000 doses as a first batch of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine from the British-Swedish company’s branch in India.

The batch, which consists of 50,000 doses, is part of a UPA's agreement that includes 20 million doses of the British AstraZeneca's vaccine – which is developed by India's R-pharma and Serum Institute following their deal to transfer the vaccine manufacturing technology from the British company.