Egypt will mandate that public sector employees must either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or take a weekly coronavirus test to be allowed to work in government buildings after Nov. 15, a cabinet statement said on Sunday.
A government meeting also agreed to allocate one billion pounds ($64 million) to address spending requirements related to the coronavirus crisis.
In recent weeks, the vaccination campaign has been targeting millions of Egypt’s state functionaries, university faculty and students as well as teachers and school workers.
The government’s media center said the VACSERA coronavirus vaccines factory in the 6th of October City, with a total area of 60,000 cubic meters, is expected to open by the end of the year with a production capacity of about 24,000 doses per hour.
The Health Ministry said Sunday that 874 new coronavirus cases were detected in the last 24 hours, upping the total number of infections since the outbreak in the country to 317,585.
The Ministry said 42 patients have died from complications caused by the disease, raising the death toll to 17,926.
As many as 855 patients were discharged from hospitals after receiving medical care, taking the number of recoveries to 268,210, it added.
