The Egyptian Medicines Authority announced on Wednesday February 24 that it had approved a new vaccine against the coronavirus, the Russian Sputnik V, a month after the start of the vaccination campaign.
Read also: Covid-19: Sputnik V, a very political Russian vaccine
According to a statement posted on its Facebook page, the Medicines Authority claimed to have "
given urgent authorization for the use of the two vaccines: Sputnik V and AstraZeneca imported from South Korea
".
This had previously authorized the Chinese vaccine Sinopharm and AstraZeneca from the Anglo-Swedish group produced in India, a shipment of which had been received at the end of January.
The most populous country in the Arab world with more than 100 million inhabitants, Egypt began vaccinating its medical staff against the coronavirus with the Sinopharm vaccine on January 24.
The campaign should continue with the oldest people, then those with chronic diseases before spreading to the rest of the population.
The Russian Sovereign Fund (RDIF) has confirmed the approval of its vaccine by Egypt, saying Sputnik V "
is now approved in 35 countries around the world
".
Egypt has officially recorded more than 179,000 cases of Covid-19 since the spread of the pandemic, including more than 10,400 deaths.
This infection rate is far lower than the actual figure for contamination, according to health officials.