Egypt on Sunday began its vaccination campaign against the new coronavirus, by delivering two doses of the vaccine from the Chinese group Sinpharma to a doctor and a nurse at a hospital in Ismailia in the east of the country.

“Egypt is the first country in mainland Africa to have received the vaccine and (…) launched a vaccination campaign,” Health Minister Hala Zayed said at a press conference at Ismailia’s Abu Khalifa Hospital, the first people to receive coronovirus One of. Patient in the country.

Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country with some 100 million inhabitants, received its first batch of the Sinopharma vaccine in December. According to the Chinese laboratory, the vaccine is 79% effective.

Zayed said, “All medical teams will receive the vaccine for free, that’s their right.”

Egypt’s President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi said on Saturday that after health workers, the priority would be immunization of “people with chronic diseases and then the elderly”.

However, the minister, who himself participated in clinical trials in 2020, said on Sunday that “those who have the financial means will pay” to receive the vaccine.

Egypt has signed contracts with “three English, Chinese and Russian companies”, acquiring 100 million doses, part of which is awaiting delivery, she said.

He said that aspiring to be the continent’s major supplier, Cairo would sign “contracts for local construction” with international companies in the coming weeks.