Egypt will receive a total of 8 mn doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines from the US this month, all of it a donation, Health Minister Hala Zayed said in a joint press conference with US Ambassador to Egypt Jonathan Cohen (watch, runtime: 19:16). The presser was held to mark last week’s receipt of 1.6 mn doses of Pfizer, the first batch of the 8 mn-dose shipment.

Around 70% of school staff have now been vaccinated, Zayed said, adding that the figure currently stands at 95% for ministry workers and teaching staff in universities, and 35% among university students. The government has no intention of delaying the start of the school year amid rising covid-19 case numbers, given the existence of vaccine mandates for education workers and university students, she said.

Under-18s will begin to be vaccinated “very soon,” starting with high school students, Zayed added at the presser, indicating that they would likely be offered Pfizer doses. The cold chain infrastructure needed to store the vaccines is now being put in place, she suggested.

The Health Ministry reported 771 new covid-19 infections yesterday, up from 768 the day before. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 307,569 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 33 new deaths, bringing the country’s total death toll to 17,469.