عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Egypt Increases Number of Vaccination Centers

The cabinet meets in New Alamein on Wednesday. (Egyptian government)
The cabinet meets in New Alamein on Wednesday. (Egyptian government)
TT
TT

Egypt Increases Number of Vaccination Centers

The cabinet meets in New Alamein on Wednesday. (Egyptian government)
The cabinet meets in New Alamein on Wednesday. (Egyptian government)

Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed said that the number of coronavirus vaccination centers has been increased to 657 from 580, building on the government’s pledge in June to inoculate 40 percent of the population by the end of this year.

During a cabinet meeting in New Alamein on Wednesday, the minister noted that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has underscored the significance of vaccines in light of the emergence of the Delta variant.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly prioritized vaccinating university and school staff and students ahead of the new academic year.

Zayed said vaccination stations that have been set up at university hospitals to inoculate medical staff will handle the rest of the faculty in each university.

They will also administer the second dose of vaccines before the beginning of the new academic year.

Additionally, the Health Ministry has set a mechanism for vaccinating workers at the Ministry of Education and Technical Education.

Moreover, Zayed addressed the current situation of supplying AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Sinopharm, Sputnik, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. She noted the quantities of raw materials for manufacturing vaccines in the VACSERA factories that should be received by the end of the year.

Six million doses will be released gradually starting September 5.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Sudan's Army Launches Push to Retake Ground in Capital

Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
TT
TT

Sudan's Army Launches Push to Retake Ground in Capital

Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer
Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer

Sudan's army launched artillery and air strikes in Sudan's capital on Thursday in its biggest operation to regain ground there since early in its 17-month war with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), witnesses and military sources said.

The push by the army, which lost control of most of the capital at the start of the conflict, came ahead of an address by its commander, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York later in the day.

Witnesses reported heavy bombardments and clashes as army troops tried to cross bridges across the Nile connecting the three adjoining cities that make up the greater capital, Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri.

"The army is carrying out heavy artillery strikes and air strikes on Halfaya and Shambat," Ahmed Abdalla, a 48-year-old resident told Reuters by phone, referring to areas of Bahri close to the river. "The sounds of explosions are very loud."

Video footage showed black smoke rising above the capital and the booms of the battle could be heard in the background.

Army sources said their forces had crossed bridges in Khartoum and Bahri. The RSF told Reuters it had thwarted the army's attempt to cross two bridges to Khartoum. Reuters could not independently confirm the accounts.

Though the army retook some ground in Omdurman early this year, it depends mostly on artillery and airstrikes and has been unable to dislodge nimble RSF ground forces embedded in other parts of the capital.

The RSF has also continued to make advances in other parts of Sudan in recent months in a conflict that has caused a vast humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 10 million people and driving parts of the country to extreme hunger or famine.

This month the battle for control of al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state in the west of Sudan, has also intensified as the RSF has tried to advance from positions surrounding the city against the army and allied former rebel groups.