More AstraZeneca jabs land in Egypt: Egypt received 1.76 mn doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine through the Gavi / Covax program on Friday, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

This is the third shipment of vaccines Egypt has received from Gavi: Egypt has now received some 4.3 mn of the 4.5 mn doses allocated to it by the initiative. The ministry said earlier this month that all of the 1.9 mn outstanding shots would be delivered last week.

More vaccine doses expected this month: The ministry is expecting new doses of Sinovac and Pfizer to arrive in August, Health Minister Hala Zayed said in a cabinet meeting last week. The 2.5 mn-dose batch of Pfizer jabs could arrive in the coming days, the ministry said last week, with the shipment having originally been scheduled to arrive in mid-July. The country was expected to receive 1 mn doses of the Sinovac vaccine in late July.

More than 100k people got vaccinated on Thursday including 56k who got their first doses and over 44k who had their second jabs, the ministry said in a separate statement.

Almost 6 mn people had been vaccinated as of earlier this month, Youm7 reported. The ministry had said in July that 4.5 mn people had received at least one dose since the government began its vaccination campaign in January.

We have 539 vaccination centers nationwide administering the covid-19 vaccine, compared to a previous 500. This is in addition to 126 dedicated to issuing official vaccination certificates for those wishing to travel.

Egyptians will need to pay more than previously thought for travel certificates: QR code vaccination certificates needed for travel will cost EGP 250 for Egyptian citizens wishing to travel, USD 10 for non-Egyptians and EGP 100 for local use at government institutions, according to a statement.The certificates were previously said to cost EGP 100 for citizens.

The Health Ministry reported 99 new covid-19 infections yesterday, up from 97 the day before. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 285,257 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 6 new deaths, bringing the country’s total death toll to 16,615.

Cases have been climbing steadily (if slowly) for almost three weeks now, with the exception of a brief drop on 5 August, according to our in-house covid tracker.

IN GLOBAL COVID NEWS-

• Only vaccinated individuals be allowed to access to public spaces in Abu Dhabi as of 20 August. The Emirate is also going to require boosters within six months of your receiving your second dose. (Announcement)
• Booster shots are getting the regulatory OK in the United States, with an initial focus on at-risk individuals. (Reuters)
• China put pressure on a leading WHO scientist to downplay the lab-leak theory of covid-19’s origins. (Washington Post)
• Hospitalization of covid-19 patients in their 30s reached a record high in the US as the highly-contagious delta variant continues to spread. (Wall Street Journal)