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Egypt to Receive More AstraZeneca, Pfizer Doses

Egyptians get tested for Covid-19 at a drive-through coronavirus-testing center in Cairo. (AFP file photo)
Egyptians get tested for Covid-19 at a drive-through coronavirus-testing center in Cairo. (AFP file photo)
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Egypt to Receive More AstraZeneca, Pfizer Doses

Egyptians get tested for Covid-19 at a drive-through coronavirus-testing center in Cairo. (AFP file photo)
Egyptians get tested for Covid-19 at a drive-through coronavirus-testing center in Cairo. (AFP file photo)

Egypt announced on Monday it expects to receive new doses of the Pfizer, AstraZenca and Johnson & Johnson vaccine, stressing the role the inoculation drive plays in curbing daily COVID-19 infections.

The Ministry of Health confirmed that the second dose of the vaccine is safe for all residents who received the first jab.

Egypt has in recent weeks witnessed a significant decline in coronavirus infections.

On Monday, the country recorded 117 new cases, bringing the total to 283,102. The Health Ministry announced 13 new deaths, raising the total to 16,396 nationwide.

Meanwhile, Health and Population Minister Hala Zayed said Monday that Egypt agreed to join the Treaty for the Establishment of the African Medicines Agency (AMA), which aims to localize the manufacture of medicines and vaccines across Africa.

The announcement came during a press conference in the presence of representative of the African Union for the AMA, Michel Sidibe and head of the health division at the African Union Commission, Dr. Margaret Agama.

“Egypt will work through the AMA to serve the African people, and supply them with medicines and vaccines that are produced locally in Egypt, after achieving local sufficiency and according to the signed agreements,” Zayed said.

For his part, Sidibe praised Egypt’s efforts to locally manufacture medicines and vaccines. “Countries that are incapable of securing vaccine doses, would be unable to protect their people,” he stressed.

Sidibe said 15 million out of Africa’s 1.3 billion people have been already inoculated against the virus.

Meanwhile, Health ministry spokesman Khaled Megahed said Egypt will receive 2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of the week, in addition to raw materials sufficient to produce 10 million Sinovac doses.

He confirmed that the coming days should witness an expansion of the vaccination drive after Egypt receives a large quantity of doses.

Presidential Adviser for Health Affairs Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din said Egypt is on its way to gradually receive 25 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccines from the African Union.

In an interview with a local channel, he confirmed that Egypt has not yet recorded any case of the Delta variant, adding that his country is dealing firmly with the pandemic to prevent a fourth wave.

In a related development, Advisor to the Ministry of Health for Research Dr. Noha Assem confirmed that Egypt is heading towards self-sufficiency in vaccines, adding that the country should meet all local needs by August.

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Arab World

MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
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MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

Medical aid agency MSF said on Friday it has been forced to suspend its activities at one of the few remaining hospitals in southern Khartoum due to repeated attacks, cutting off yet another lifeline for those who remain in the Sudanese capital.
War has been raging in Sudan since April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.
The hospital, which lies in territory controlled by the RSF, helped treat the victims of frequent airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces, as well as hundreds of malnourished women and children in an area where two neighborhoods have been judged at risk of famine, reported Reuters.
"In the 20 months MSF teams have worked alongside hospital staff and volunteers, Bashair Hospital has experienced repeated incidents of armed fighters entering the hospital with weapons and threatening medical staff, often demanding fighters be treated before other patients," MSF said in a statement.
"Despite extensive engagements with all stakeholders, these attacks have continued in recent months. MSF has now taken the very difficult decision to suspend all medical activities in the hospital."
The fighting in Sudan has cut off up to 80% of hospitals in conflict areas, where millions who cannot afford to escape the violence remain. Civilians face frequent air and artillery fire and hunger as supplies are blocked by both warring parties and prices skyrocket.
Medical facilities, including MSF-supported ones that have suspended operations, have frequently come under attack by RSF soldiers demanding treatment or looting supplies. Bashair Hospital has served more than 25,000 people, MSF said, including 9,000 hurt by blasts, gunshot wounds, and other violence.
"Sometimes dozens of people arrived at the hospital at the same time after shelling or airstrikes on residential areas and markets," MSF said in the statement, citing an incident on Sunday where an airstrike one kilometer away drove 50 people to the emergency room, 12 of them already dead.