Egypt government allocates $1.6 billion to buy COVID-19 vaccines – FinMin

Egypt has allocated between $1.5 billion and $1.6 billion to purchase vaccines against COVID-19, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said on Sunday.

Maait told CNBC Arabia that Egypt has agreed with the Geneva-based GAVI vaccine alliance to secure 20 million vials of COVID-19 vaccines.

“There are also talks underway with AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, and Pfizer.” the minister said.

Egypt’s Ministry of Health detected 890 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the total infection tally to 156,397 since the outbreak erupted in mid-February.

The ministry also reported 56 new deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities from the virus to 8,583.