Zayed also referred to two agreements signed between the Chinese company Sinovac and Egypt’s Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (Vacsera) to allow the latter to produce 40 million vaccine doses per year CAIRO: Egyptian Minister of Health Hala Zayed has said 115 doctors are known to have died with COVID-19 as a result of their work in Egypt’s quarantine hospitals. Zayed said the rise in coronavirus cases is gaining pace in the country. The Ministry of Health has decided to cut the number of non-urgent cases admitted to hospitals to keep beds free for those who really need them. Zayed stressed that the Egyptian government is keen to provide COVID-19 vaccines to all Egyptian citizens. “We don’t have the luxury to choose vaccine types and we thank God we have managed to provide the vaccines,” she said. She said that Egypt is one of very few countries that did not impose a total lockdown: “When we imposed a lockdown for some activities this time last year, it was only for a limited period.” FASTFACT The rise in coronavirus cases is gaining pace in the country, the minister says. Egypt announced that the Russian vaccine has been registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and will be locally manufactured. Zayed also referred to two agreements signed between the Chinese company Sinovac and Egypt’s Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (Vacsera) to allow the latter to produce 40 million vaccine doses per year. The minister added “a vaccine-producing factory affiliated to Vacsera has been fully equipped to increase production to 100 million doses annually. Zayed said that the private sector will be allowed to manufacture the vaccine.