Egypt starts COVID-19 vaccination

Egypt has begun vaccinating people against the novel coronavirus, the country's Health Ministry said Sunday.

The country received its first batch of China's Sinopharm vaccine and the first doses were given to health professionals at a quarantine hospital in northeastern Ismailia province, the ministry said in a statement.

Vaccinations will first be administered to healthcare professionals at quarantine hospitals and other hospitals where the virus is seen and then to the elderly, chronic patients and others, it said.

It added that they have the capacity to store 140 million doses of vaccine and will provide 100 million doses to the public.

Egypt has recorded more than 161,800 infections, over 8,900 deaths and in excess of 126,000 recoveries, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University.

The pandemic has claimed more than 2.12 million lives in 192 countries and regions since originating in China in December 2019.

Over 99.13 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries over 54.69 million, according to Johns Hopkins.

The US, India and Brazil remain the worst-hit countries in terms of cases.