Pfizer, AstraZeneca, J&J jabs to arrive this week: Egypt will receive our first 2 mn-dose shipment of the Pfizer / BioNTech mRNA vaccine by the end of this week while a new 250k-jab batch of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is due as soon as mid-week, the Health Ministry’s spokesperson Khaled Megahed told Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi last night (watch, runtime 2:57), elaborating on statements made by Health Minister Hala Zayed last week. The AstraZeneca shots could be part of the final 1.9 mn-dose batch allocated under the Gavi / Covax program that Zayed previously said would arrive in July.

The first shipment of Johnson & Johnson vaccines will also arrive this week, Megahed said, without specifying an amount.

State-owned vaccine maker Vacsera will produce another 1 mn Sinovac shots in the coming days, Megahed noted. We’ll receive raw materials that will be enough to produce another 3 mn doses by the end of this week, before receiving another shipment to manufacture an additional 4.7 mn a week later. The company manufactured 1 mn doses of the vaccine earlier this month and is targeting 10 mn by the end of July and 80 mn by the end of the year.

Home-made Sinovac will be available in clinics in mid-August, Vacsera head Heba Wali reiterated in an interview for Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime 7:36). This contradicts information given by a health ministry advisor last week, who said that the first shots could be sent out in the coming two weeks.

The Health Ministry reported 117 new covid-19 infections yesterday, down from 121 the day before. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 283,102 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 13 new deaths, bringing the country’s total death toll to 16,396.