Back to the complete issue
Wednesday, 27 January 2021

Form an orderly line

Members of the public may be able to register to get vaccinated as soon as next week, Mohamed Abdel Fattah, head of the Health Ministry’s Central Administration for Preventive Affairs, told Masaa DMC's Ramy Radwan last night (watch, runtime: 7:14). People will be able to register via a dedicated website that Abdel Fattah expects to go live next week.

But: There’s still no timeline for when the ministry will start distributing shots to the wider public. And we’re also looking for word on how (a) private sector companies and medical offices may be able to get involved in vaccine distribution and (b) how foreign residents can sign up for the jab.

Egypt kicked off its vaccine program on Monday: Citizens can line up for their jabs after the ministry is done inoculating 410k frontline medical staff working at isolation, chest and fever hospitals around the country. Those with underlying health conditions and the elderly will be at the head of the line. The Health Ministry won’t be vaccinating children (pending the results of clinical trials globally) or pregnant women.

The Health Ministry reported 643 new covid-19 infections yesterday, down from 669 the day before. The ministry also reported 55 new deaths, bringing the country’s total death toll to 9,067. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 163,129 confirmed cases of covid-19.

The politics of vaccine distribution are starting to get heated, after the EU blasted AstraZeneca for delaying deliveries and lashed out at the US’ export restrictions, reports Bloomberg. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is demanding Europe also block the export of vaccines as shortages threaten to disrupt national vaccination campaigns.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.