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Monday, 14 December 2020

Last Night’s Talk Shows on 14 December 2020

It was another night of covid-19 and the rollout of vaccines leading the conversation on the airwaves.

Egypt is now nearing the peak of its second wave of infections, so keep wearing your masks and adhering to social distancing measures, member of the Health Ministry’s covid-19 committee Mohamed El Nady told Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi. The transmission of the virus that causes covid-19 has become faster and more widespread over the past few weeks, El Nady said (watch, runtime: 12:44).

Don’t hold your breath for Pfizer: On the vaccine front, former Health Minister Ashraf Hatem reminded Lamees that rolling out the Pfizer vaccine here in Egypt will be difficult because of its ultra-cold transportation and storage requirements, meaning we’re more likely to rely for the most part on the Sinopharm, Sputnik V, and AstraZeneca vaccines (watch, runtime: 9:46).

Sorry, kids, there’s still no plan to close schools or shorten the school year. Thanaweya Amma exams will also proceed as planned, and will cover all parts of the curriculum, Education Minister Tarek Shawki told Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa (watch, runtime: 16:54). Any decision for a school to shut down entirely would require government approval, Shawki told El Hekaya’s Amr Adib (watch, runtime: 11:45). Shawki separately discussed the Global Knowledge Index ranking (which we note in Blackboard, below) with Al Hayah Al Youm’s Lobna Assal (watch, runtime: 15:45).

Also on the airwaves last night:

  • Details on the government’s plan to replace gasoline-fired cars with dual-fuel vehicles will be announced in the second half of January 2021, said Trade and Industry Minister Nevine Gamea (Lamees El Hadidi on Kelma Akhira | watch, runtime: 9:08).
  • The “Two is Enough” family planning program has so far reached 4 mn citizens, campaign director Desiree Labib said (Sarah Hazem on Masaa DMC | watch, runtime: 6:57).

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