Egypt's Health Minister Says Citizens Can Start Registering For COVID-19 Vaccine

Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed speaks during a news conference alongside Dr Abdel Menoim Selim and nurse Ahmed Hamdan Zayed, the first two Egyptians to receive Chinese Sinopharm coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, inside a tent set up outside the Abou Khalifa hospital in Ismailia, Egypt January 24, 2021. REUTERS/Shokry Hussien
Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed speaks during a news conference alongside Dr Abdel Menoim Selim and nurse Ahmed Hamdan Zayed, the first two Egyptians to receive Chinese Sinopharm coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, inside a tent set up outside the Abou Khalifa hospital in Ismailia, Egypt January 24, 2021. REUTERS/Shokry Hussien
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Egypt's Health Minister Says Citizens Can Start Registering For COVID-19 Vaccine

Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed speaks during a news conference alongside Dr Abdel Menoim Selim and nurse Ahmed Hamdan Zayed, the first two Egyptians to receive Chinese Sinopharm coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, inside a tent set up outside the Abou Khalifa hospital in Ismailia, Egypt January 24, 2021. REUTERS/Shokry Hussien
Egypt's Health Minister Hala Zayed speaks during a news conference alongside Dr Abdel Menoim Selim and nurse Ahmed Hamdan Zayed, the first two Egyptians to receive Chinese Sinopharm coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine, inside a tent set up outside the Abou Khalifa hospital in Ismailia, Egypt January 24, 2021. REUTERS/Shokry Hussien

Egyptian Minister of Health Hala Zayed announced on Sunday that citizens will be able to begin registration to receive the coronavirus vaccine starting next week, beginning the next step in the country’s vaccination campaign.

In late January, Egypt started vaccinating medical workers at quarantine hospitals.

In this context, Zayed noted that the priority will be given to the elderly and those suffering from chronic diseases during the next phase.

She also confirmed that Egypt will receive a “big” shipment of vaccines, noting that Egypt signed contracts to receive 100 million doses.

Zayed told reporters that the country will receive 8.6 million of the AstraZeneca doses later this month.

“Egypt is set to receive a total of 40 million vaccine doses from GAVI during 2021,” she added.

The Minister asserted that Egypt is the first African country to approve COVID-19 vaccines and receive them.

All the vaccines that are obtained are approved for emergency use through the Egyptian Medicines Authority and its affiliated laboratories, she assured.

Hossam Hosni, head of the scientific committee to combat coronavirus in Egypt, confirmed the committee’s intention to amend the treatment protocol for the virus to include new drugs. He asserted that the treatment protocol will be updated.



Israeli Military Confirms Sinwar Has Been Killed

FILE PHOTO: Yahya Sinwar, Gaza Strip chief of the Hamas movement, waves to Palestinians during a rally to mark the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day), in Gaza, April 14, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Yahya Sinwar, Gaza Strip chief of the Hamas movement, waves to Palestinians during a rally to mark the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day), in Gaza, April 14, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/File Photo
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Israeli Military Confirms Sinwar Has Been Killed

FILE PHOTO: Yahya Sinwar, Gaza Strip chief of the Hamas movement, waves to Palestinians during a rally to mark the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day), in Gaza, April 14, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Yahya Sinwar, Gaza Strip chief of the Hamas movement, waves to Palestinians during a rally to mark the annual al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day), in Gaza, April 14, 2023. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/File Photo

Israel confirmed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel last year, has been killed in Gaza, with Foreign Minister Israel Katz calling it a "victory for the entire free world."

The Israeli military confirmed in a post on X that Sinwar was dead.

"Mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, who was responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7, was killed today by IDF soldiers," Katz said in a written statement from his office.

"This is a great military and moral achievement for Israel and a victory for the entire free world against the axis of evil of radical Islam led by Iran."

The military earlier said there were no signs that Israeli hostages had been present in the building where two other militants were killed.

The death of Sinwar would represent a major boost to the Israeli military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after a string of high-profile assassinations of prominent leaders of its enemies in recent months.

Israel's Army Radio said the incident had occurred during a targeted ground operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip during which Israeli troops killed three militants and took their bodies.
Israel has samples of Sinwar's DNA from his period in an Israeli jail.

Sinwar, the chief architect of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, has been at the top of Israel's wanted list ever since. But he has so far eluded detection, possibly hiding in the warren of tunnels Hamas has built under Gaza over the past two decades.

Previously leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, he was named as its overall leader following the assassination of former political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.

Israel also killed Hasan Nasrallah, leader of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement, in Beirut last month as well as much of the top leadership of the group's military wing.