Last Night’s Talk Shows on 13 December 2020
The biggest story on the airwaves was, naturally, the arrival of Sinopharm’s vaccine in Egypt. Presidential health advisor Mohamed Awad Tag Eldin phoned in to Kelma Akhira to explain the process of testing and approving the Chinese vaccine, including allowing clinical trials to be held here in Egypt. Tag Eldin stressed to host Lamees El Hadidi that Egypt’s health authorities have studied the vaccine to ensure its efficacy and safety (watch, runtime: 22: 39).
The vaccine won’t be mandatory and citizens who opt into getting the jab can register through a website the Health Ministry has set up, Assistant Minister Noha Assem told Al Hayah Al Youm’s Lobna Assal. Assem reiterated that just because we have a vaccine, it doesn’t mean we get to forgo all precautionary and social distancing measures in the short term (watch, runtime: 19:45). Elsewhere, El Hekaya's Amr Adib had a chat with two doctors to ask whether or not they would take the vaccine (watch, runtime: 4:18 and runtime: 1:40).
Also on the airwaves last night:
- Tax progress: 100 out of 134 companies in the first phase of the Tax Authority’s electronic invoicing system are now integrated into the system, head of the authority’s research department Ragab Mahrous (Sarah Hazem, Masaa DMC | watch, runtime: 4:48).
- The Tourism Ministry has launched a promotional campaign in the Balkans to bring visitors to Egypt and reassure them of the covid-19 safety measures being implemented in tourist destinations, Deputy Minister Ghada Shalaby said (Sarah Hazem, Masaa DMC | watch, runtime: 3:14).