New Amnesty International report denounces this situation

Egypt's disastrous distribution of COVID-19 vaccines fails to prioritize at-risk populations

photo_camera AFP/MOHAMED EL-SHAHED - Children in an alley in the village of al-Nehaya, one of Egypt's poorest

Prisoners, refugees, at-risk populations and the poorest groups are being let down by the irregular release of vaccines, according to Amnesty International's recent report. "Vaccine distribution in Egypt has been severely affected by a lack of a clear strategy and transparency, resulting in delays and backlogs, as well as a failure to reach those most in need and to address vaccine reluctance through targeted awareness campaigns," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Director of Research and Advocacy for the Middle East and North Africa.

"We call on the government to ensure that priority groups are indeed prioritised and that the distribution scheme is inclusive, accessible and non-discriminatory," he added. To date, Egypt has reported more than 281,000 cases and 16,169 deaths, but according to Egypt's national committee for the fight against the coronavirus, the actual numbers are likely to be 10 times higher than officially recorded. 

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Egypt's vaccination campaign began on 24 January, with the aim of prioritising health workers working on the front line against the virus, some 207,000 people, followed by the high-risk population; patients with liver disease, cancer and the elderly. The vaccine would be provided after registration on an internet portal and would be available for a small charge to those who can afford it. Earlier this year, Health Minister Hala Zayed said they would obtain 100 million doses of vaccine from different suppliers. They are currently working with AstraZeneca and Sinpopharm.

The report states that although online registration was initially opened for health workers, the high-risk population experienced long waiting times and often did not get an appointment to be vaccinated. There are also testimonies of young people reporting that they were scheduled earlier than their elders, even if they had registered months earlier. 

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The information dissemination campaign for vaccination has also been heavily criticised. Conflicting messages from the government on vaccine distribution and the lack of public awareness campaigns on both access to the vaccine and reluctance to vaccinate have resulted in the exclusion of socio-economically marginalised groups and people with irregular legal status.

Medical professionals in Upper Egypt report that many residents were unaware of the distribution of vaccines, and that in some cases local health workers themselves conducted awareness-raising in the absence of government initiatives, a further reminder of the uneven and chaotic management of vaccination in the country. 

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In April, the independent online media platform Mada Masr reported that parliamentarians and their families were given preferential treatment in choosing between AstraZeneca and Sinopharm, despite repeated statements by the Ministry of Health that the population would have no say in which vaccines they receive. Prime Minister Mostafa Kamal Madbuli had ordered the ministry to begin vaccinating parliamentarians and senators, but there was no public order to vaccinate their families as well.

"Egypt currently stocks Sinopharm and AstraZeneca vaccines. Each lawmaker and his or her family can choose which vaccine they want to receive," Yasser Omar, deputy chairman of the House of Representatives' Planning and Budget Committee, tells Mada Masr. Seven other parliamentarians who wished to remain anonymous corroborated these developments.

In addition, although the Egyptian authorities confirmed that a vaccination campaign inside prisons had begun on 17 May with the inoculation of 5,000 elderly or chronically ill prisoners, they have not made public the process, schedule and criteria for vaccination. There have been complaints that many people detained for political reasons have not yet had access to the vaccine, even though they are at risk. 

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For example, on 14 April, the lawyer of detainee Abdelmonim Aboulfotoh, 69, a former presidential candidate and founder of the opposition Misr Al-Qawia party, filed a request with the prosecutor's office to allow his client to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, given his advanced age and health problems. To date, he has not received a single dose.

A number of practical obstacles make it difficult for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants to access vaccinations, as well as those without internet access. Non-Egyptian nationals can register online with their passports, residence documents and identification numbers provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), but those who are undocumented or seeking to formalise their status are excluded.

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