Egypt to Roll Out Booster Shots for Patients with Chronic Diseases

Arab World

December 6th, 7:34am

Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat

Egyptian acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar during a meeting held at the Ministry Saturday to discuss the vaccination process (Egyptian government)

Egypt is planning, in the coming days, to roll out COVID-19 vaccine booster shots for the most vulnerable groups, officials at the Health Ministry confirmed. The Ministry said those groups include medical teams, the elderly, and patients with chronic diseases, and that they can receive their shots at least six months after their second dose. During the weekend, Egyptian acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar held a meeting at the headquarters of the Ministry to follow up on the workflow of the vaccination process and to identify challenges and means to overcome them. The Minister discussed the steps to start vaccinating citizens with the booster shot for those in priority groups as well as following up on the vaccination of children from 12 to 15 years old. Abdel Ghaffar confirmed the availability of all types of jabs in vaccination centers in all governorates in addition to manufacturing vaccines locally within the factories of the Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA). The Minister also decided to form a scientific committee aimed at “educating citizens about the importance of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, especially in the governorates with the lowest rates of vaccination.” In this regard, he announced that Egypt received 600,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines Saturday while the country is scheduled to receive an additional 3.9 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine by the end of this month.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3344016/egypt-roll-out-booster-shots-patients-chronic-diseases