The Egyptian health ministry has provided a coronavirus vaccine to nearly 30,000 citizens, said head of the Preventive Medicine Department at the ministry Alaa Eid on Monday.

He added, in remarks to Al-Watan private newspaper, that about 488,000 citizens have registered for the vaccine on the ministry’s website.

This comes while health minister Hala Zayed said on Saturday that the ministry is aiming to vaccinate around 250,000 medical workers and eligible citizens against COVID-19 by the end of this week.

Eid said the ministry seeks to increase the number of centers providing the vaccine nationwide to 4,500 centers.

Egypt has started its vaccination campaign in January with Sinopharm and AstraZeneca vaccines.

The country is still suffering from the second wave of the pandemic although it managed to get past the peak, according to officials.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Sunday the country is on the threshold of a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.