Minister of Health Hala Zayed said Egypt has received 1,612,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as a gift from the US through COVAX mechanism, an unprecedented global effort between CEPI, Gavi, Unicef, PAHO, and WHO to ensure equitable access to immunization throughout the world.

At a joint press conference with US Ambassador in Cairo Jonathan R. Cohen, Zayed reviewed means of cooperation between the two countries to provide vaccination against coronavirus, asserting that this shipment of Pfizer is part of a series of shipments with a total of 8 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna presented by US as a gift to Egypt.

She said Pfizer has been approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA), adding that Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which is administered in two shots 21 days apart, needs special refrigeration to store vials at the low temperatures of 2°C to 8°C.

Zayed termed as “excellent” relations between the US and Egypt during the pandemic, noting that all health authorities in the US topped by the Medicine College in Harvard have been collaborating with Egypt.

She extended thanks of the Egyptian government to the US and appreciated the US ambassador’s efforts to deliver the shipment to Egypt.

The minister also announced that she will pay a visit to the US next month for talks on more cooperation in the various health fields, adding that the Egypt has not faced any problems regarding the contracts to get the vaccines, but the problem worldwide is the limited production of vaccines.

Out of all contracts signed by Egypt in the past year to get various doses of vaccines, Egypt has only received 1.5 million doses and others have been obtained via special contracts on the already produced vaccines.

Source: State Information Service Egypt