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Agence France-Presse

Egypt began its Covid-19 immunisation programme on Sunday, becoming one of the first countries in Africa to vaccinate its citizens, with a doctor and a nurse receiving the Chinese-made Sinopharm jab.
Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country with over 100 million people, received its first batch of the vaccine in December.
The inoculation will be available to all health workers for free, Health Minister Hala Zayed said Sunday.
“All healthcare workers will receive it for free, it’s their right,” Zayed told a press conference at Abu Khalifa Hospital in the northeastern city of Ismailia.
She also paid tribute to over 330 doctors in Egypt who have died from the virus.
Dozens of other medical workers at the hospital were also vaccinated Sunday.

“It was a simple jab,” Mahmud Zaki, one of the doctors, told Al-Watan newspaper.
Over 35 medical centres will be set up nationwide in the coming weeks to administer the vaccine, the health ministry has announced, with citizens urged to register online.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Saturday that the inoculation drive would begin “with healthcare workers followed by those suffering from chronic diseases and later the elderly”.
Zayed said citizens “who have the means should pay for the vaccine” in the coming months.
Egypt has officially registered over 160,000 novel coronavirus infections, including nearly 9,000 deaths.
Health officials have warned that low testing rates mean the real number could be at least 10 times higher.
Zayed said Cairo had inked deals to receive vaccine shipments from British, Chinese and Russian firms, for a total of around 100 million doses.
Earlier this month, the minister said Egypt would receive 40 million doses, mostly of the AstraZeneca/Oxford jab, via the Gavi vaccine alliance, with the aim of inoculating 20 per cent of its population.
Zayed said Sunday that the North African country was also working on producing a vaccine locally, with a view to distributing it to the rest of the continent, without providing details on which vaccine.
Earlier this week, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that Africa was “in danger of being left behind as countries in other regions strike bilateral deals, driving up prices”.
“I am reassuring the Egyptian people they will receive the vaccine, but I reiterate the vaccine is not a substitute for staying vigilant in terms of health precautions, including wearing masks,” the minister said.
Sinopharm says its vaccine is 79 per cent effective against the novel coronavirus.
The Indian Ocean archipelago of the Seychelles began vaccinating its population against the coronavirus earlier this month, the first African nation to do so.


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Coronavirus: Egypt launches immunisation drive with China’s Sinopharm vaccine

Dr Abdel Menoim Selim and nurse Ahmed Hamdan Zayed, the first two Egyptians to receive China’s Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine, at Abou Khalifa hospital in Ismailia, Egypt on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed speaks during a news conference inside a tent set up outside the Abou Khalifa hospital in Ismailia, Egypt January 24, 2021. REUTERS/Shokry Hussien

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Members of the Butantan Institute work on the CoronaVac vaccine in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Friday. Photo: EPA-EFE

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epa08889351 A couple walks past the Rain Vortex waterfall at the Jewel Changi airport mall in Singapore, 17 December 2020. Starting from 18 December, Singapore will not impose any quarantine or restrictions on travellers arriving from Taiwan providing that they have spent the previous 14 days in Taiwan and test negative for the Covid-19 coronavirus. EPA-EFE/WALLACE WOON

A doctor is vaccinated at Gleneagles hospital, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Singapore January 19, 2021. REUTERS/Edgar Su

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Sinopharm’s vaccine given to health care workers in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia
Egypt has signed deals to receive vaccine shipments from British, Chinese and Russian firms


Egypt becomes one of the first countries in Africa to vaccinate its citizens against the coronavirus.


Coronavirus: Egypt launches immunisation drive with China’s Sinopharm vaccine

Sinopharm’s vaccine given to health care workers in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia Egypt has signed deals to receive vaccine shipments from British, Chinese and Russian firms

Sinopharm’s vaccine given to health care workers in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia

Egypt has signed deals to receive vaccine shipments from British, Chinese and Russian firms