ERBIL, Kurdistan Region —The Kurdistan Region on Tuesday received 5,000 doses of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine as a gift from China. Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said health workers on the frontline of the fight against the virus will be prioritized to receive the jab. “I am pleased to confirm that we have received an early batch of 5,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine,” said Barzani in a statement, describing it as “an important milestone in our fight against COVID-19.” “Once they have been inspected by our medical teams, and the delivery plan approved, the vaccines will be distributed to designated health centers of all Kurdistani provinces to be administered to frontline healthcare staff,” Barzani stated. China has overall donated 50,000 doses of its vaccine to Iraq, including those given to the Kurdistan Region. “Today, I am very happy to represent the Chinese government to donate 5,000 doses of [a] Chinese vaccine to the Kurdistan Regional Government,” Chinese consul general in Erbil, Ni Ruchi, told Rudaw after the arrival of the donation, adding that this is a sign of “friendship.” He also said that their aid to the KRG in the fight against the virus will continue. China had also donated coronavirus kits to the Region in March of last year - when the virus began taking hold locally. Aso Hawezy, spokesperson for KRG’s health ministry, told Rudaw on Sunday that one thousand of the 5,000 donated doses will be given to Chinese workers in the Kurdistan Region. The donation comes as a UK variant of coronavirus rapidly spreads across the Region. The health ministry said late Tuesday that 199 new cases of the virus and one death were recorded in 24 hours. The total number of the cases has reached 109,350. Of this, 103,744 have recovered and 3,522 died.
Middle East07-06-2026Iranian lawmaker threatens ‘painful response’ over Israel’s attacks on Beirut suburbs
