Egypt prohibits COVID-19 vaccine production by local companies 

Egypt yesterday barred a number of private pharmaceutical companies from distributing coronavirus vaccines to Egyptian citizens.

The health ministry said in a statement that it was the “single entrusted entity to provide the vaccine to the country’s citizens, in cooperation with the World Health Organization.”

“Our priority is to provide the vaccine to the most vulnerable groups to infection, including the medical personnel, people with chronic diseases, and the elderly,” the ministry pointed out.

The Egyptian government last week launched a campaign to promote citizen’s vaccination across the country. 1,141 Egyptians were reported to have been vaccinated on the campaign’s first day. The government has also allocated 40 centers across the country’s governorates for vaccination.

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Cairo had contracted with international pharmaceutical companies to import 50 million doses of vaccines.

So far, a total of 187,094 have contracted the virus in Egypt, 11,038 of whom have died, and 144,485 others have recovered, according to the US’ Worldometers.