عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Egypt's Health Minister Says Citizens Can Start Registering For COVID-19 Vaccine

Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed speaks during a news conference alongside Dr Abdel Menoim Selim and nurse Ahmed Hamdan Zayed, the first two Egyptians to receive Chinese Sinopharm coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, inside a tent set up outside the Abou Khalifa hospital in Ismailia, Egypt January 24, 2021. REUTERS/Shokry Hussien
Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed speaks during a news conference alongside Dr Abdel Menoim Selim and nurse Ahmed Hamdan Zayed, the first two Egyptians to receive Chinese Sinopharm coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, inside a tent set up outside the Abou Khalifa hospital in Ismailia, Egypt January 24, 2021. REUTERS/Shokry Hussien
TT
TT

Egypt's Health Minister Says Citizens Can Start Registering For COVID-19 Vaccine

Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed speaks during a news conference alongside Dr Abdel Menoim Selim and nurse Ahmed Hamdan Zayed, the first two Egyptians to receive Chinese Sinopharm coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, inside a tent set up outside the Abou Khalifa hospital in Ismailia, Egypt January 24, 2021. REUTERS/Shokry Hussien
Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed speaks during a news conference alongside Dr Abdel Menoim Selim and nurse Ahmed Hamdan Zayed, the first two Egyptians to receive Chinese Sinopharm coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, inside a tent set up outside the Abou Khalifa hospital in Ismailia, Egypt January 24, 2021. REUTERS/Shokry Hussien

Egyptian Minister of Health Hala Zayed announced on Sunday that citizens will be able to begin registration to receive the coronavirus vaccine starting next week, beginning the next step in the country’s vaccination campaign.

In late January, Egypt started vaccinating medical workers at quarantine hospitals.

In this context, Zayed noted that the priority will be given to the elderly and those suffering from chronic diseases during the next phase.

She also confirmed that Egypt will receive a “big” shipment of vaccines, noting that Egypt signed contracts to receive 100 million doses.

Zayed told reporters that the country will receive 8.6 million of the AstraZeneca doses later this month.

“Egypt is set to receive a total of 40 million vaccine doses from GAVI during 2021,” she added.

The Minister asserted that Egypt is the first African country to approve COVID-19 vaccines and receive them.

All the vaccines that are obtained are approved for emergency use through the Egyptian Medicines Authority and its affiliated laboratories, she assured.

Hossam Hosni, head of the scientific committee to combat coronavirus in Egypt, confirmed the committee’s intention to amend the treatment protocol for the virus to include new drugs. He asserted that the treatment protocol will be updated.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Violence Spikes in Syria's Opposition-Held Northwest, Killing Civilians and Striking Infrastructure

File photo: Smoke billows following reported bombardment by government forces in the Syrian northwestern town of Barah, in the Jabal al-Zawiya region. (AFP)
File photo: Smoke billows following reported bombardment by government forces in the Syrian northwestern town of Barah, in the Jabal al-Zawiya region. (AFP)
TT
TT

Violence Spikes in Syria's Opposition-Held Northwest, Killing Civilians and Striking Infrastructure

File photo: Smoke billows following reported bombardment by government forces in the Syrian northwestern town of Barah, in the Jabal al-Zawiya region. (AFP)
File photo: Smoke billows following reported bombardment by government forces in the Syrian northwestern town of Barah, in the Jabal al-Zawiya region. (AFP)

A UN official said Thursday that he is “alarmed” by escalating violence in Syria’s opposition-held northwest in recent days, including airstrikes that hit near a food distribution site for displaced families and others that struck a power station and disabled water stations.
The UN deputy regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, David Carden, said in a statement that 12 civilians, including children, had been killed since Monday and the increased violence has “halted critical humanitarian activities, including services provided by 10 health facilities.”
Syria’s uprising-turned-civil war, which began in 2011, has for years been a largely frozen conflict, the country effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus government of President Bashar Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.
The opposition-held northwest has remained a flashpoint. In recent weeks, rescue workers and a war monitor said that Russian forces allied with Assad have stepped up bombardment of the area.
On Wednesday alone, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, said Russian warplanes launched 28 airstrikes in the countryside around Idlib and Latakia , targeting both civilian and military areas.
Some of the Russian strikes targeted sites of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which controls much of northwest Syria. Formerly known as the Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, the group later changed its name several times and distanced itself from al-Qaeda.
Both sides have engaged in drone attacks and shelling, the observatory said.
Other strikes have hit civilians. A strike on a furniture manufacturing workshop on the outskirts of the city of Idlib Wednesday killed 10 people and injured 32, many of them workers, the local civil defense, also known as the White Helmets, said in a statement.
The group said rescue workers spent seven hours in a grueling rescue operation, pulling survivors from the rubble. Eight teams worked to treat the injured and recover victims, it said in a statement on Thursday.
The escalation comes at a time when a stream of people are arriving in northwest Syria after fleeing the escalating Israeli bombardment in neighboring Lebanon. Carden said Monday that approximately 3,000 newly displaced Syrians had arrived in northwest Syria from Lebanon.