Egypt receives 2.2 mln AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccine doses

The country received its first COVAX delivery of 854,000 AstraZeneca doses at the start of April. It has also received several shipments of the Sinopharm vaccine, bringing the total number of vaccine doses delivered to 5 million, the health ministry said. 

Egypt has an agreement for the supply of 20 million Sinopharm doses, and has been allocated 4.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through COVAX. 

It is preparing to produce the Sinovac and Sputnik vaccines locally. 

Egypt, with a population of just over 100 million, is trying to contain a third wave of COVID-19 infections and the government has put in place some restrictive measures until May 21, shortening opening hours and banning large gatherings. 

Some 2.7 million people have registered online with the health ministry to receive a vaccine. Authorities opened a mass vaccination centre in Cairo this month capable of vaccinating 10,000 people per day. 

Egypt had officially confirmed 240,927 coronavirus cases including 14,091 deaths as of Wednesday. 

Officials and experts say the real number of infections is far higher, but is not reflected in government figures because of low testing rates and the exclusion of private test results.