Egypt vaccinates its tourism workers

Egypt whose economy heavily depends on tourism, announced Thursday the completion of the COVID-19 vaccination program to all tourism workers in the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates.

The announcement comes as part of the government's promotion of Egypt's most attractive coastal destinations.

"I am announcing to the whole world the completion of the vaccination process for 100% of the workers in the tourism sector, including the workers in the activities related to the sector like safari, scuba centers and bazars in both Red Sea and South Sinai governorates and hopefully by June 30 we will witness the completion of the vaccination process for all citizens." says Hala Zayed, Egyptian Minister of Health.

According to the ministry of tourism; Khaled el-Enany, Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities;  the industry is recovering and there is a noticeable increase in tourists numbers.The tourism sector alone accounts for 12% of the gross domestic product.

"As you know it was a very difficult year for the tourism industry in the whole world, but since the beginning of 2021 the industry is recovering in Egypt, we started the year, January with 300, 000 tourists per month, we ended last April with 525, 000 tourists per month, this represents around 50% of our numbers before the pandemic."

Egypt's government has for years struggled to revive the vital tourism sector battered by years of instability following the 2011 uprising the toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, and most recently the coronavirus pandemic

Egypt's prime minister said on Wednesday that the government aims to vaccinate at least 40% of the country's population against the coronavirus by the end of this year.

Egypt has reported more than 264,557 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 15,178 deaths.

The actual number of COVID-19 cases, like elsewhere in the world, is thought to be far higher, in part due to limited testing.