The first batch of 80,000 doses of vaccine against the H1N1 virus, or “swine flu,” arrived in Egypt on Sunday as part of an agreement between the Ministry of Health and British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKlein. A second batch of 70,000 doses is expected to arrive within the coming two days.
Upon its arrival, the ministry transported the vaccine in refrigerated vans to specially prepared warehouses belonging to the Egyptian Holding Company for Biological Products and Vaccines (VACSERA).
GlaxoSmithKlein Egypt Chairman Amr Mamdouh said the pharmaceutical firm would supply Egypt with a total of five million doses by the end of next March. “The first batch will be given to this year’s hagg pilgrims,” he explained.
In a bid to reassure the public that it is safe for consumption, Health Minister Hatem el-Gabali said he would be among the first to take the vaccine.
In a related development, Cairo Governor Abdel Azim Wazir ordered the closure of two classrooms at a school in the capital’s Waili district due to suspected H1N1 cases among students. Cairo’s Ain-Shams University, meanwhile, temporarily closed an entire floor of one of its dormitories after three cases of the virus were reportedly detected.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
