The coronavirus (COVID-19) infections in Egypt have been increasing rapidly in the second wave in the country, as numbers started to hike from about 200 cases per day more than a month ago, to more than 600 cases recently.
Late on Saturday, the Ministry of Health reported 611 coronavirus cases, up from 579 cases on Friday, bringing the country’s total to 124,891 cases.
The country’s total number of confirmed fatalities due to the pandemic reached 7,041 deaths after recording 26 new fatalities on Saturday. A total of 106,481 cases have recovered and discharged from hospitals.
Meanwhile, Amjad Al-Khouly, expert of epidemiology for the World Health Organization (WHO), said in media statements on Saturday, that Egypt is one of the countries that had secured its needs from the coronavirus vaccine as about 20 million doses will be delivered to Egypt in the first quarter of 2021.
A month ago, Egypt’s Ministry of Health announced that it has reserved 20% of Egypt’s needs from the coronavirus vaccine produced by Pfizer. The ministry has also reserved 30% of the country’s needs from the vaccine that Oxford University is working to produce.
In her speech during the scientific conference on the role of central laboratories within the ministry’s plan to address the coronavirus, Minister of Health Hala Zayed mentioned that there are 11 potential vaccines in the final trial stages, and Egypt participated in the clinical trials of two vaccines.
The Pfizer vaccine proved more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19. Protection is achieved 28 days after the initiation of the 2-dose schedule vaccination.
Moreover, Egypt has received its first shipment of the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group. Sinopharm vaccine had 86 per cent efficacy according to the UAE Health Ministry, as the vaccine’s third phase of the clinical trials was carried out in the UAE.
Egypt’s Health Ministry announced that the healthcare teams would be prioritised in vaccination, after that the elderly people and those who suffer from chronic diseases will be vaccinated.
