2nd Astrazeneca doses delayed nationwide, sources say supplies short until Aug 11

People who were about to receive their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine have had their appointments delayed by nearly three weeks without explanation in recent days.

According to numerous accounts, people expecting to attend appointments for their second dose on Saturday or Sunday in Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Daqahlia and Matrouh, received messages telling them their appointments had been delayed between 10 and 17 days.

Though the Health Ministry is yet to issue an official explanation for the delayed second doses, the move appears intended to make the best use of AstraZeneca stocks as the supply in the country dwindles, and as Egyptian nationals seek vaccination in order to travel to Europe or the Gulf where countries are more likely to demand the AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna or Sputnik vaccines, rather than the Sinovac and Sinopharm shots of which there are relatively high stocks in Egypt.

Four doctors at vaccination centers in Cairo who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity said that the ministry instructed centers nationwide to stop giving people second doses of AstraZeneca due to a shortage in the supply of the vaccine. Centers were told to give the existing stocks of AstraZeneca, which are due to expire at the end of August, only as first shots to people getting vaccinated in order to travel.

Second-shot appointments for people who have already received a first shot of AstraZeneca will now be pushed on the ministry’s instructions until August 11, when a new shipment of the British-Swedish firm’s vaccine arrives within the coming 10-15 days, the doctors said.

A member of the state-appointed Scientific Committee to Combat Coronavirus told Mada Masr that delaying the second shot of AstraZeneca by a number of days wouldn’t impact its effectiveness. The four doctors all voiced concerns that the centers would be hit with overcrowding after August 11, when people whose AstraZeneca appointments were delayed will compound the number of people turning up for their second shots.

However, a Health Ministry hotline staffer offered conflicting information, telling Mada Masr that the delays were related to measures to ease overcrowding at vaccination centers and that not everyone who was vaccinated three months ago would have their second shots delayed.

Nevertheless, the last minute delays and the lack of information sparked confusion.

“I got a message at 4.30 am telling me my second vaccination appointment had been delayed until August 12 at Cairo’s Zeitoun Specialized Hospital,” Mona Ibrahim, 50, told Mada Masr on Saturday. Ibrahim received her first shot in May, and was invited by text on Wednesday to a second appointment on Saturday before the appointment was cancelled last minute.

Though Ibrahim called the Health Ministry hotline (15335) to try and check that the message was legitimate and to enquire as to the reason for the delay, no one answered the call. Ibrahim then went to the hospital in Aziz Billah Square in Zeitoun, only to find a group of people in the same situation as herself, whose Saturday appointments had been delayed. Ibrahim said a doctor at the hospital told them that the delays were due to reduced AstraZeneca stocks, and that the hospital was only vaccinating people with “the Chinese vaccine” at present. Vaccine clinics in Egypt currently have stocks of both the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines created and manufactured in China.

Similar complaints were posted on social media, with people describing delays in appointments until as late as August 18, at Nabarouh Hospital and at a vaccination center in Senbellawein, Daqahlia, at Bitash Family Health Unit and the Customs Clinic in Alexandria, at Agouza Hospital, Cairo, and at the Regional Blood Transfusion Center, Matrouh.

Noting that people hoping to get second shots of the vaccine for travel have had their second appointments delayed, and that the system for obtaining a travel vaccination certificate remains hard to navigate, the House Health Committee undersecretary MP Mahmoud Aboul Kheir has called on the Health Ministry to give a clear timeline for those wishing to get vaccinated for travel. Speaking to Mada Masr on Saturday, Aboul Kheir said that thousands of Egyptians could lose out on employment opportunities abroad as a result of the confusion. Aboul Kheir said he receives hundreds of complaints from constituents and even from people outside his constituency on a daily basis regarding a lack of clarity around when would-be travelers will be able to get vaccinated. 

On July 9, the Health Ministry said that it has sufficient supplies of all the vaccines, and that it is expecting an unspecified quantity of “more” AstraZeneca doses, 2 million doses of Pfizer and “a large quantity” of Johnson & Johnson vaccines for those wishing to travel to countries that require full vaccination. 

Sources also confirmed to Mada Masr that the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine is also newly available at vaccination centers. Three of the four doctors said that the Health Ministry had distributed Sputnik V shots to centers over the past week, and that centers had begun to use the vaccines over the past three days. A doctor at the Cairo International Fair Ground center said that Sputnik V would become available to the public on Monday or Tuesday. 

In order to be vaccinated in Egypt, people must first register through a government registration portal, where they fill in their personal information, any underlying health conditions and their desired inoculation site. They are then invited to an appointment at a specific time and date. At least 179 sites have been set up by the ministry to inoculate citizens. The media has also reported that a limited number of convoys were deployed to pension distribution centers to register and vaccinate pensioners on the spot and to facilitate home vaccination for people unable to travel to centers, as well as to target workers in certain sectors, including tourism, energy, transportation and the police.

The World Health Organization said that 5.3 million doses had been administered in Egypt by July 26.

As many continue to await their second shots, Hamdy Ibrahim, from the Health Ministry’s scientific committee, told Mada Masr that a week or two’s delay would not prevent the second shot from being effective. The first shot helps the body to produce antibodies that last for several months, said Ibrahim, while the second shot helps top up those antibodies. 

Ibrahim added that the coronavirus situation in Egypt is very reassuring at present, and that the number of people at chest and fever hospitals is at its lowest point since the pandemic broke out in Egypt in 2020.

New system for issuing travel vaccination certificates lags in face of demand

Meanwhile, a new nationwide system launched on Saturday through which people can get Health Ministry-approved certificates of vaccination with a scannable QR code via 126 offices nationwide has been inundated with people eager to travel. The new certificates cost LE100 for Egyptian nationals, and US$10 for foreigners.

However, some applicants told Mada Masr that they had struggled to get hold of the certificates, with a bureaucratic obstacle course slowing down the process. Would-be travelers must first ensure they have stamps from vaccination centers to prove they have received their first and second shots, then obtain a stamps from their local health directorates to accredit the center and from the secretary general of the governorate or from the a local Health Ministry licensing office, before finally getting a stamp from the Foreign Ministry.

The MP Aboul Kheir told Mada Masr that he has followed the applications of dozens of his constituents in Balina, Sohag, and that among those who have received both shots of AstraZeneca only a handful have been unable to obtain accredited certification for travel since the new offices opened on Saturday. 

A Health Ministry source told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity that people flocked to the new centers when they opened on Saturday particularly in the Delta and in Upper Egypt, though they anticipated that the crowding would soon slow.

In a Saturday statement, the Health Ministry also said that it is also working on a mobile app that will serve as a “digital health passport,” using a traffic-light color code system to indicate travelers’ vaccination status, with red for no shots, amber for one shot and green for both shots.