Egypt Receives New AstraZeneca Vaccine Shipment

A man walks in front of a pharmacy amid the coronavirus pandemic in Alexandria, Egypt on December 6, 2020. (Reuters)
A man walks in front of a pharmacy amid the coronavirus pandemic in Alexandria, Egypt on December 6, 2020. (Reuters)
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Egypt Receives New AstraZeneca Vaccine Shipment

A man walks in front of a pharmacy amid the coronavirus pandemic in Alexandria, Egypt on December 6, 2020. (Reuters)
A man walks in front of a pharmacy amid the coronavirus pandemic in Alexandria, Egypt on December 6, 2020. (Reuters)

Egypt received on Monday 1.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX), the Health Ministry announced.

With the arrival of this new shipment, Egypt hopes to expand its coronavirus vaccination rollout from the first group of vaccine recipients, which include elderly and people with chronic diseases.

The shipment came as part of 40 million doses set to reach Egypt in succession through COVAX.

Health Ministry spokesperson Khaled Megahed said his country will receive more AstraZeneca doses in the coming months.

He added that Russia will send 10 million doses of its Sputnik V jab after signing a contract recently with the Health Ministry.

On Monday, the Ministry recorded 1,138 new Covid-19 infections, up from 1,132 the day before. It also reported 59 new deaths, bringing the country’s toll to 13,904. A total of 237,410 confirmed cases of Covid-19 are now registered in the country.

Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy in Cairo signed on Monday an agreement to purchase 300,000 doses of Remdesivir from Egypt's Eva Pharma Pharmaceuticals Company.

Indian Ambassador Ajit Gupte said that the purchase will help India in its fight against coronavirus, adding that the vaccine is to be shipped to India within the coming few days.

On Monday, head of the scientific committee to confront the coronavirus, Hossam Hosni speculated that the inoculation against the coronavirus will not be a one-time shot, but will be annual, like the influenza vaccine.

Hosni said the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and effective, explaining that the clots that could happen as a side effect, occur only in five people in a million.



Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Syrian Youth Will Resist Incoming Government

A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Syrian Youth Will Resist Incoming Government

A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)

Iran's supreme leader on Sunday said that young Syrians will resist the new government emerging after the overthrow of President Bashar sl-Assad as he again accused the United States and Israel of sowing chaos in the country.

Iran had provided crucial support to Assad throughout Syria's nearly 14-year civil war, which erupted after he launched a violent crackdown on a popular uprising against his family's decades-long rule. Syria had long served as a key conduit for Iranian aid to Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in an address on Sunday that the “young Syrian has nothing to lose" and suffers from insecurity following Assad's fall.

“What can he do? He should stand with strong will against those who designed and those who implemented the insecurity," Khamenei said. “God willing, he will overcome them.”

He accused the United States and Israel of plotting against Assad's government in order to seize resources, saying: “Now they feel victory, the Americans, the Zionist regime and those who accompanied them.”

Iran and its armed proxies in the region have suffered a series of major setbacks over the past year, with Israel battering Hamas in Gaza and landing heavy blows on Hezbollah before they agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon last month.

Khamenei denied that such groups were proxies of Iran, saying they fought because of their own beliefs and that Tehran did not depend on them. “If one day we plan to take action, we do not need proxy force,” he said.