Egypt’s health minister on Wednesday said that the country is working to boost its supply of coronavirus vaccines as the number of recorded infections continue to rise.
According to a report by Reuters, the country signed a contract to get vaccines developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) on Dec. 4 and is expecting further deliveries after receiving the first batch earlier this month.
Health minister Hala Zayed told reporters that medical staff and people with chronic diseases would get priority. She however did not give details on the quantity of the vaccines or the timeframe.
“We are working with more companies to get the largest possible number of vaccines,” said Zayed, noting that daily cases had been rising gradually since the end of October and more sharply this week.
Egypt, with a population of just over 100 million, has also applied to receive vaccines through the World Health Organization’s global COVAX scheme.
