Egyptian-British Cooperation to Provide COVID-19 Vaccine

Egyptian health minister during her meeting with British Ambassador to Cairo on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. (Facebook)
Egyptian health minister during her meeting with British Ambassador to Cairo on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. (Facebook)
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Egyptian-British Cooperation to Provide COVID-19 Vaccine

Egyptian health minister during her meeting with British Ambassador to Cairo on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. (Facebook)
Egyptian health minister during her meeting with British Ambassador to Cairo on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. (Facebook)

Egypt has discussed cooperation with Britain to provide a coronavirus vaccine once proven effective.

Egypt’s Health Minister Hala Zayed received on Wednesday British Ambassador to Cairo Geoffrey Adams.

During the meeting, the minister stressed the importance of cooperation with various world countries and international companies to provide a safe and effective vaccine for the virus.

She noted that news about giving the first British citizen COVID-19 vaccine is a sign of hope for all world countries, affirming Cairo’s commitment to the fair distribution of the vaccine once proven effective.

Zayed further pointed to her country’s cooperation with the Global Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) through the World Health Organization’s COVAX initiative to ensure safe and fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccine to all world countries.

Adams, for his part, welcomed the cooperation with Cairo to provide a vaccine, stressing his embassy’s keenness to encourage bilateral cooperation in the health field.

According to the latest statement by Egypt’s Health Ministry, the country has recorded 434 new COVID-19 cases and 23 deaths, raising the infection tally until Tuesday to 119, 281 cases, including 103,913 recoveries and 6,813 deaths.

Meanwhile, Dr. Hossam Hosny, head of the Anti-Coronavirus Scientific Committee at the Health Ministry, announced his country has updated its treatment protocol to include more new effective drugs.

The new protocol also includes new criteria to divide the cases, as well as risk factors for cases infected with the virus and an upgrade for oxygen support systems to reduce dependence on ventilators, Hosny explained.

He noted in remarks on Tuesday that the treatment protocol is unified and has been used in all hospitals, stressing the importance of abiding by the preventive measures to limit the spread of the virus and avoid extra cases.

Separately, presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s visit to Paris has included discussions on joint efforts between relevant sectors to combat the novel coronavirus.

In televised statements on Tuesday, Rady explained that Egypt has been able to manage between resuming its economic activities while maintaining preventive measures to preserve its citizens’ health.

He said both countries will soon exchange their expertise in fighting the virus.



Iran FM to Visit Syria, Türkiye as Tehran, Moscow Back Damascus Regime against Opposition Advances

 Opposition fighters step on a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, Syria, late Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP)
Opposition fighters step on a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, Syria, late Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP)
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Iran FM to Visit Syria, Türkiye as Tehran, Moscow Back Damascus Regime against Opposition Advances

 Opposition fighters step on a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, Syria, late Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP)
Opposition fighters step on a picture of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo, Syria, late Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP)

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi will visit Damascus on Sunday, before visiting Türkiye as part of a regional tour, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state media on Saturday.

Earlier, Araqchi and his Russian counterpart voiced support for Syria on during a major attack by opposition groups, Iranian state media reported.  

Araqchi told Russia's Sergei Lavrov in a phone call that the attacks were part of an Israeli-US plan to destabilize the region, state media said.  

According to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry about the call, both sides "expressed extreme concern about the dangerous escalation of the situation in Syria due to the terrorist offensive by armed groups in the Aleppo and Idlib provinces".  

The ministers agreed on the need to intensify joint efforts aimed at stabilizing the situation in Syria.  

Iran's foreign ministry also condemned what it called "aggression by terrorist elements" against its consulate in Syria's city of Aleppo during the current opposition advances, Iranian state media reported.  

"The consul-general and all members of the consulate of Iran in Aleppo are in good health," spokesperson Baghaei told state media.  

Earlier on Saturday, Russia's Lavrov spoke on the matter with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan.  

For his part, Fidan spoke by phone with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Saturday to discuss the situation in Syria, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said.  

He also spoke with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.