The Health Ministry reported 1,288 new covid-19 infections yesterday, down from 1,322 the day before. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 486,381 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 22 new deaths, bringing the country’s total death toll to 24,132.

Pfizer plans to provide around 10 mn courses of its covid antiviral Paxlovid to developing countries this year, Reuters reported, citing an official with NGO the Global Fund. The fund is working to buy the meds heralded by the US administration as a “game-changer,” but said the promised pills were “obviously not enough” to meet demand. Pfizer charges USD 530 per treatment course in the US, and while the pharma giant has said it plans to charge less in lower income countries, it has not yet disclosed a price. It’s also not yet clear if the funding exists globally to pay for the courses.

Speaking of Paxlovid — where’s ours? We’ve still heard no word on the shipment of Paxlovid that was supposed to arrive sometime in January, after we signed an agreement with the pharma giant to provide pills to treat some 20k people.