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.



Iran's Pezeshkian Vows to 'Resolve Problems' with Iraqi Kurdistan

This handout picture made available by the Iranian presidency shows the President of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region Nechervan Barzani (R) receiving Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian in Arbil on September 12, 2024. (Iranian Presidency / AFP)
This handout picture made available by the Iranian presidency shows the President of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region Nechervan Barzani (R) receiving Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian in Arbil on September 12, 2024. (Iranian Presidency / AFP)
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Iran's Pezeshkian Vows to 'Resolve Problems' with Iraqi Kurdistan

This handout picture made available by the Iranian presidency shows the President of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region Nechervan Barzani (R) receiving Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian in Arbil on September 12, 2024. (Iranian Presidency / AFP)
This handout picture made available by the Iranian presidency shows the President of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region Nechervan Barzani (R) receiving Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian in Arbil on September 12, 2024. (Iranian Presidency / AFP)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed on Thursday to “resolve problems” with the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

Pezeshkian visited Kurdistan on the second day of his official trip to Iraq that he kicked off on Wednesday. He met with several Kurdish officials in the capital Erbil and Sulaymaniyah city.

Kurdistan President Nechervan Barzani described Pezeshkian’s visit as historic, saying Kurdish regions will not be used to threaten Iran’s security.

Pezeshkian is the first Iranian president to visit Kurdistan in an official capacity.

“We enjoy historic and cultural ties with Iran,” Barzani told a press conference.

Discussions focused on bilateral relations, especially in the security field.

Leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Masoud Barzani meets with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, in Erbil, Iraq, September 12, 2024. Iran's Presidency/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters

“Iran has always stood by our side during difficult times,” Barzani remarked while acknowledging that there are problems with Iran and “we are determined to resolve them.”

Speaking in Kurdish, Pezeshkian said his visit aimed to consolidate ties with Iraq and the Kurdistan region and resolve pending problems.

Pezeshkian and his accompanying delegation held a meeting with Kurdish Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. They tackled border, trade and security issues, said a brief government statement.

Problems between Iran and Kurdistan lie in what Tehran says is Erbil’s harboring of armed members of Kurdish Iranian opposition groups.

Baghdad recently announced the closure of dozens of headquarters of these groups.

In March 2023, Iraq and Iran signed a security agreement months after Iran carried out strikes against Kurdish opposition groups in northern Iraq.

Since then, both sides agreed to disarm these groups and repel them from their joint borders.

Tehran accuses the groups of obtaining their weapons from Iraq and of stoking anti-regime protests that erupted in wake of the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022.

A handout picture made available by the Iranian Presidency shows, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Bafel Talabani (L) greets Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (R) upon his arrival at the airport in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, 12 September 2024. (EPA/Iranian Presidency)

Pezeshkian also met with Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani, inviting him to visit Iran.

The officials exchanged views on general affairs in Iraq and Kurdistan and they agreed to coordinate and bolster political, economic and cultural relations, said a statement from the party.

Pezeshkian held talks with head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Bafel Talabani in Sulaymaniyah.

The PUK, a rival of the KDP, enjoys close ties with the ruling pro-Iran Coordination Framework in Iraq.

Local media said Pezeshkian and PUK leaders discussed bolstering security in border areas to facilitate trade and increase investments.

Pezeshkian is expected to visit the southern Iraqi city of Basra on Friday in a first for an Iranian president in nearly a century.