Egypt Prepares 40 Vaccination Centers, Plans For More

A man receives the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at Al-Nozha Hospital in Cairo on Thursday. (AP)
A man receives the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at Al-Nozha Hospital in Cairo on Thursday. (AP)
TT

Egypt Prepares 40 Vaccination Centers, Plans For More

A man receives the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at Al-Nozha Hospital in Cairo on Thursday. (AP)
A man receives the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at Al-Nozha Hospital in Cairo on Thursday. (AP)

Egypt on Thursday expanded its coronavirus vaccination rollout to include the elderly and people with chronic diseases after several weeks of vaccinating medical staff, the Cabinet said.
Nearly 153,000 people have applied for vaccinations since Sunday when the North African country opened online registration, the Cabinet said in a statement.

Egypt has prepared 40 vaccination centers and plans to increase that number after the arrival of more vaccine batches, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced.

The Arab world’s most populous country with more than 100 million, received 350,000 doses of a coronavirus vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) in two batches since December, in addition to 50,000 doses of a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca in February.

It is hoping to receive vaccines through the COVAX facility, a global initiative aimed at providing equitable distribution of vaccines, in the coming weeks.

On Feb. 24, the Egyptian Drug Authority approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use.

Egypt’s Prime Speed Medical Services said it had obtained the right to provide Sputnik V in Egypt in a statement to the stock exchange, without giving details.

Egypt began vaccinating frontline medical staff against COVID-19 on Jan. 24 using the Chinese vaccine, Reuters reported.

Those getting the Sinopharm jab have a second dose after 21 days while those who receive the AstraZeneca vaccine wait 12 weeks for the second dose, said Health Minister Hala Zayed.

As of Wednesday, Egypt had confirmed 184,168 coronavirus cases, including 10,822 deaths, since the start of the pandemic.

However, health officials say the real number is likely far higher due to a relatively low rate of coronavirus testing and the exclusion of private test results.



Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
TT

Sudan Army Says Recaptures Key State Capital

Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP
Sudanese civilians displaced by offensive south of Khartoum earlier this year dream of returning to their homes after the regular army retakes territory - AFP

The Sudanese army said Saturday it had retaken a key state capital south of Khartoum from rival Rapid Support Forces who had held it for the past five months.

The Sennar state capital of Sinja is a strategic prize in the 19-month-old war between the regular army and the RSF as it lies on a key road linking army-controlled areas of eastern and central Sudan.

It posted footage on social media that it said had been filmed inside the main base in the city.

"Sinja has returned to the embrace of the nation," the information minister of the army-backed government, Khaled al-Aiser, said in a statement.

Aiser's office said armed forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had travelled to the city of Sennar, 60 kilometres (40 miles) to the north, on Saturday to "inspect the operation and celebrate the liberation of Sinja", AFP reported.

The RSF had taken the two cities in a lightning offensive in June that saw nearly 726,000 civilians flee, according to UN figures.

Human rights groups have said that those who were unwilling or unable to leave have faced months of arbitrary violence by RSF fighters.

Sinja teacher Abdullah al-Hassan spoke of his "indescribable joy" at seeing the army enter the city after "months of terror".

"At any moment, you were waiting for militia fighters to barge in and beat you or loot you," the 53-year-old told AFP by telephone.

Both sides in the Sudanese conflict have been accused of war crimes, including indiscriminately shelling homes, markets and hospitals.

The RSF has also been accused of summary executions, systematic sexual violence and rampant looting.

The RSF control nearly all of the vast western region of Darfur as well as large swathes of Kordofan in the south. They also hold much of the capital Khartoum and the key farming state of Al-Jazira to its south.

Since April 2023, the war has killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted more than 11 million -- creating what the UN says is the world's largest displacement crisis.

From the eastern state of Gedaref -- where more than 1.1 million displaced people have sought refuge -- Asia Khedr, 46, said she hoped her family's ordeal might soon be at an end.

"We'll finally go home and say goodbye to this life of displacement and suffering," she told AFP.