Egypt’s House of Representatives has announced that the government has said it will provide vaccines for the members of parliament in its two chambers.

Hanafi Gebali, the speaker of the parliament, demanded the members adhere to precautions against COVID-19 whilst waiting for the vaccination. Over the past few days, 15 members of parliament were infected with COVID-19. Accordingly, the members of parliament demanded that they either get the vaccine immediately or that parliament is suspended until they do.

MP Diaa El-Din Dawoud said that the cost of the vaccination could be discounted from the MPs’ annual rewards. This exception raises criticism over the justice in distributing vaccines between citizens, especially with the previous government’s declaration that the vaccination will not be free except for medical teams and those registered in the Takaful wa Karama programme for social protection.