The UK is working with the Egyptian government on how to make Egyptian vaccine certificates recognized by the UK, the British Embassy in Cairo said on Twitter yesterday. “We are now working with the Egyptian government to come up with a mechanism that will make vaccination certificates, for those who received the vaccine in Egypt, recognized in the UK,” it said, without providing further details.

The UK government only recognizes vaccination certificates from a small number of countries around the world, and has not given regulatory approval to two of the most common vaccines in Egypt: Sinovac and Sinopharm. A mechanism to recognize locally administered jabs would allow vaccinated travelers from Egypt to bypass the three PCR tests and 10-day self-quarantine that will remain necessary for the unvaccinated.

Don’t get your hopes too high: This quite likely only a case of “how do we recognize your Egyptian proof of vaccination and tell a fake from the real ones” — not “we’re maybe / possibly / potentially willing to accept your made-in-Egypt Sinovac jab.”

The embassy also confirmed that Egypt is no longer on the UK’s red list as of 4am this morning. We’ll be amber-listed until 4 October, when a new, two-tier system comes into place that will allow vaccinated travelers from green-listed countries to enter the UK without any form of quarantine or pre-travel testing.

The Health Ministry reported 688 new covid-19 infections yesterday, up from 679 the day before. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 298,296 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 24 new deaths, bringing the country’s total death toll to 17,016.