Egypt Begins Issuing Covid Vaccination Certificates

Egypt begins issuing cerificates for people vaccinated against the coronavirus. (Health Ministry via Facebook)
Egypt begins issuing cerificates for people vaccinated against the coronavirus. (Health Ministry via Facebook)
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Egypt Begins Issuing Covid Vaccination Certificates

Egypt begins issuing cerificates for people vaccinated against the coronavirus. (Health Ministry via Facebook)
Egypt begins issuing cerificates for people vaccinated against the coronavirus. (Health Ministry via Facebook)

The Health Ministry in Egypt has kicked off the issuance of certificates for people who have received the coronavirus vaccine.

Egypt’s Health Minister Hala Zayed said on Saturday that 126 centers nationwide have started to issue certificates for people who wish to document that they were vaccinated against the virus.

Health Ministry Spokesperson Khaled Megahed explained that the certificates are secured by Egypt's recently inaugurated Secured and Smart Documents Complex and have QR codes, which can easily be verified at airports worldwide.

When scanning the QR code via a mobile phone, the certificate holder’s information will appear, Megahed added.

He stated that the Egypt Health Passport application is being finalized in two versions for Android and iPhone users to serve as an electronic health passport that can be used at international airports by showing the vaccination status.

It also shows the vaccination status through a traffic light color system of red if the person did not receive the vaccine, yellow if the person received a first dose, and green if the person received two shots.

Authorities expect to administer 148.2 million Covid-19 vaccine shots between August and until the end of the years. The doses will be enough to inoculate 83.7 million people, said health authorities.

The Health Ministry urges people to book an appointment to get the vaccine through the dedicated website.

Egypt has confirmed 284,215 infections, 16,518 deaths and 229,712 recoveries. A total of 45 new coronavirus cases and four deaths were reported on Friday.



Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Large groups of women and children are scavenging for food among mounds of trash in parts of the Gaza Strip, a UN official said on Friday following a visit to the Palestinian enclave.

Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights office for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, expressed concern about the levels of hunger, even in areas of central Gaza where aid agencies have teams on the ground.

"I was particularly alarmed by the prevalence of hunger," Sunghay told a Geneva press briefing via video link from Jordan. "Acquiring basic necessities has become a daily, dreadful struggle for survival."

Sunghay said the UN had been unable to take any aid to northern Gaza, where he said an estimated 70,000 people remain following "repeated impediments or rejections of humanitarian convoys by the Israeli authorities".

Sunghay visited camps for people recently displaced from parts of northern Gaza. They were living in horrendous conditions with severe food shortages and poor sanitation, he said.

"It is so obvious that massive humanitarian aid needs to come in – and it is not. It is so important the Israeli authorities make this happen," he said. He did not specify the last time UN agencies had sent aid to northern Gaza.

US WARNING

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin set out steps last month for Israel to carry out in 30 days to address the situation in Gaza, warning that failure to do so may have consequences on US military aid to Israel.

The State Department said on Nov. 12 that President Joe Biden's administration had concluded that Israel was not currently impeding assistance to Gaza and therefore was not violating US law.

The Israeli army, which began its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the group's attack on southern Israeli communities in October 2023, said its operating in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 were trying to prevent militants regrouping and waging attacks from those areas.

Israel's government body that oversees aid, Cogat, says it facilitates the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and accuses UN agencies of not distributing it efficiently.

Looting has also depleted aid supplies within the Gaza Strip, with nearly 100 food aid trucks raided on Nov. 16.

"The women I met had all either lost family members, were separated from their families, had relatives buried under rubble, or were themselves injured or sick," Sunghay said of his stay in the Gaza Strip.

"Breaking down in front of me, they desperately pleaded for a ceasefire."