Some 2.5 mn people — 2.4% of Egypt’s population — have received at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said at a press conference yesterday. This is a 400k increase from the 2.1 mn figure Cabinet Spokesperson Nader Saad reported last week, and a near-1-mn increase from a 1.6 mn figure announced last week by Ayman Sebae, a health researcher for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. The government is aiming to vaccinate 40% of the population by the end of the year, Madbouly said, a figure slightly below the one given by Saad earlier this week, who said that half the country’s population would have received their shots before the year is out.

For that to happen, people need to start registering: Some 6 mn people have so far registered to get vaccinated since registration was opened to the public in March, Madbouly said yesterday. This amounts to just 6% of the population.

The Health Ministry reported 951 new covid-19 infections yesterday, down from 956 the day before. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 264,557 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 42 new deaths, bringing the country’s total death toll to 15,178.

We’re past the third wave thanks to the precautionary measures the government took during Eid El Fitr period, covid-19 task force member Mohamed Nady told DMC (watch, runtime 13:34). Daily infection rates have fallen by more than 20% from their recent peak while the daily death toll is also starting to slow.

The first batch of homemade shots of China’s Sinovac vaccine should be produced by the end of this month, the Health Ministry said in a statement yesterday. The shots will then be shipped to the Egyptian Drug Authority and a Chinese lab team for a final thorough analysis before their rollout into the market.

The announcement comes a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) approved the emergency listing of the Sinovac jab, which Egypt cleared for use in April.

Need a refresher on the differences between the Sinovac and Sinopharm jabs? We’ve got you covered.

We are also expecting to receive 2k liters of Sinovac’s active ingredients this month to manufacture the expected 3 mn doses, after having received the first batch of raw materials in May.

We should be getting Sinovac and Sinopharm doses by mid June: A 1 mn-dose shipment of China's Sinovac vaccine will arrive over two equal batches on 5 and 16 June, with an additional 1 mn doses of Sinopharm slated for delivery on 13 June. Health Minister Hala Zayed said during a cabinet meeting. The minister did not give any further details on when the new 1.9 mn-jab batch of Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is expected, though earlier reports had said the first week of June.

Egypt now has 408 state-run vaccination centers across the country now administering the vaccine, up from the 403 facilities announced in late May, the ministry said.