Mohammed Abu Zaid

CAIRO: Egyptian Minister of Health and Population Hala Zayed has announced that Egypt is negotiating with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (Gavi) to provide 20 percent of its coronavirus vaccines.

Zayed referred to three vaccines: AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Pfizer-BioNTech.

“We are currently in talks with the Chinese ambassador regarding the Chinese vaccine … within a few days, the supply will start,” Zayed said.

“We are also contacting Pfizer to obtain its vaccine and the file has been submitted for registration in Egypt,” she added.

The minister said that Egypt expects to start receiving coronavirus vaccines from Gavi in the coming weeks.

The minister added that Gavi will deliver 20 percent of Egypt’s needs and that urgent deliveries will arrive in the first quarter of the year.

She said that the vaccines may arrive in late January or early February, which are likely to be the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Zayed said that there is a 21 percent decrease in the daily average of new coronavirus cases since the beginning of this month, compared to the last week of December.

She pointed out that the rate of suspected cases in hospitals has decreased by 15 percent.

She added that the incidence of cases in intensive care has decreased by 8 percent, with the average recovery rate increasing by 5 percent.

Zayed said that the number of deaths in the second wave of the coronavirus is 50 percent fewer than the first wave. She added that Egypt has witnessed a decrease in the daily rate of new cases over the past few days.