The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Over the past few months, the Egyptian government has taken several steps to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are readily available to its people. After launching its campaign to vaccinate elderly citizens and medical workers, the Egyptian government made the vaccine available to all of Egypt’s occupants, regardless of age, health, or nationality. As long as you currently reside in Egypt, the vaccine will be available to you.

These days, the number of Coronavirus cases has been steadily increasing, meaning more and more people have been leaning towards getting vaccinated against the virus to ensure their own safety, as well as that of their family and loved ones. Here’s everything you need to know about getting vaccinated in Egypt…

What vaccines are currently available in Egypt?

So far, two different brands of vaccines are available in Egypt. The main one provided by the Ministry of Health and Population is the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, this has an efficacy rate that ranges from 51% to 86%.

AstraZeneca is the second available vaccine in Egypt.  According to UNICEF, COVAX, a global initiative aimed at providing COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, have recently shipped 854,400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Egypt, making it the most readily available at the moment.

The Ministry of Health has also been running clinical studies on the Pfizer and the Russian Sputnik vaccines in the hope of making them available to the general population soon. According to Business Standard, the Sputnik vaccine has an efficacy rate of over 95%, which would make it ideal for the prevention of the Coronavirus in Egypt.

All vaccinations require two doses to ensure their efficacy.

How can someone get vaccinated?

There are a certain number of steps that you should take to get vaccinated.

Firstly, you need to register on the Ministry’s website. Upon opening the registration form, you will be asked to provide basic information about yourself, including your name, age, medical history, and the governorate and district where you want to get vaccinated. You will also enter your mobile number, then receive a verification code that needs to be entered on the form before completing the registration process. Finally, you will receive a text message with your vaccination request number. Then, when your turn comes around, you will get an SMS with the date and location where you will be vaccinated.

Once you have confirmed your date and location, you will head to the vaccination centre, where you will verify all required documents, consent to the process being administered, and finally, receive the first dose of the vaccine. You will then return to the date specified by the medical professional to receive a second dose of the vaccine.

If any concerning symptoms show up after both doses have been administered, you can seek medical attention at a post-vaccination clinic.

With all these services readily available, the number of people getting vaccinated in Egypt is steadily rising. Hopefully, with the help of the efforts made by the Egyptian Government and the Ministry of Health, before long, the citizens of Egypt will be safe from the virus for good.