Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed signed a cooperation protocol, on Tuesday, with the Tahya Misr Fund and Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) to provide vaccines for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to two million citizens.
Zayed said that TMG has donated to ensure that the coronavirus vaccine will be given to two million low-income citizens during the coming period, entailing the provision of four million doses. The minister added that TMG will be responsible for collecting donations, in order to purchase and provide the vaccines.
The Tahya Misr Fund has received about EGP 160m in donations, in addition to the financing received by TMG, as part of the presidential initiative to “provide new COVID-19 vaccines to those who are unable [to financially access them]”.
The move intensifies efforts to support Egypt’s most vulnerable groups through continuous partnerships with the business community and institutions both inside and outside the country.
Zayed added that Egypt’s Ministry of Finance has signed an agreement with the Global Vaccine Alliance and Immunisations (GAVI), to ensure that the country procures doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
During a press conference on Monday, the Health Minister explained that GAVI will provide Egypt with 20% of its needs. Urgent needs will be delivered during the first quarter (Q1) of 2021, with the delivery of vaccines to commence in the last week of January or the first week of February.
Zayed indicated that other batches of the vaccine produced by the Chinese pharmaceuticals manufacturer, Sinopharm, will be delivered to Egypt within days.
The minister noted that Egypt will also sign another contract for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, after the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) issued emergency approval for the vaccine.
Zayed has also confirmed that Egypt had asked Pfizer to present their registration file for its vaccine, jointly developed with BioNTech.
