Egypt Speeds Up Vaccination for University Students

A woman receives a dose of the vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at one of Youth centers that are open to citizens to get COVID-19 vaccines without prior registration in an effort to boost the country's vaccination drive, in Cairo, Egypt, September 27, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
A woman receives a dose of the vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at one of Youth centers that are open to citizens to get COVID-19 vaccines without prior registration in an effort to boost the country's vaccination drive, in Cairo, Egypt, September 27, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
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Egypt Speeds Up Vaccination for University Students

A woman receives a dose of the vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at one of Youth centers that are open to citizens to get COVID-19 vaccines without prior registration in an effort to boost the country's vaccination drive, in Cairo, Egypt, September 27, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
A woman receives a dose of the vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at one of Youth centers that are open to citizens to get COVID-19 vaccines without prior registration in an effort to boost the country's vaccination drive, in Cairo, Egypt, September 27, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

The Egyptian Health Ministry on Thursday appealed to all university students to register on the official vaccination website or visit the nearest youth vaccination centers to receive their jab against the coronavirus.

Health Minister Hala Zayed announced that 82,000 university students were vaccinated Wednesday alone, out of a total of 120,000 students who registered on the website.

She said the ministry set up 1,100 vaccination centers nationwide, including 270 centers equipped to welcome youth.

Egypt continued to register an increase in the number of daily coronavirus infections with 738 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours, raising the total number of confirmed infections in the country to 303,783.

Health Ministry Spokesman Khaled Megahed said 31 coronavirus-linked deaths were recorded, taking the nationwide death toll to 17,294 since the start of the pandemic.

As many as 809 cases were discharged from isolation hospitals after receiving the necessary medical care, pushing the total number of recovered cases in the country to 256,467, the spokesman added.

Megahed also confirmed that all university students can visit the nearest center among the 270 youth centers that have been equipped to vaccinate university students, without pre-registering on the website or waiting for the text message to specify the date of receiving the vaccine.

He said registration and vaccination are done immediately in those centers.

Meanwhile, Higher Education Ministry Spokesperson Adel Abdel-Ghafar said there is an urgency to speed up the vaccination of university students.

“There are more than 300 vaccination points designated to inoculate students at all Egyptian universities,” he said, adding that receiving the vaccine is not optional.

In the past two days, Egypt received doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine and is expected to welcome a new batch of the vaccine next Monday.



Lufthansa Extends Beirut Flight Suspension until October 15

The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July (File photo by Reuters)
The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July (File photo by Reuters)
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Lufthansa Extends Beirut Flight Suspension until October 15

The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July (File photo by Reuters)
The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July (File photo by Reuters)

German airline group Lufthansa said Thursday it was extending a suspension of flights to Lebanese capital Beirut until October 15 due to heightened regional tensions.

Services to Beirut had previously been suspended until the end of September, AFP reported.

The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July.

Lebanese group Hezbollah has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in support of ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack triggered war in the Gaza Strip.

Lufthansa had also suspended flights to Tel Aviv in Israel due to the tensions, but resumed them on September 5.

Flights to Tehran also resumed on September 5, although Austrian Airlines is currently the only airline in the group serving the Iranian capital, a Lufthansa spokesman told AFP.

Germany, France and Britain on Tuesday said they were taking steps to cancel air transport agreements with Iran because of what they said was Iran's delivery of ballistic missiles to Russia.

"The Lufthansa group is aware of the planned sanctions and is in contact with the relevant authorities," the spokesman said.

Germany's foreign ministry on Wednesday said the country was "currently in intensive consultation with its European and international partners about the imposition of new sanctions, including in the aviation sector".