Iraq
Vaccination center in Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, on March 4, 2021. Photo: Bilind T. Abdullah / Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq has received almost three million extra doses of the Pfizer vaccine through the COVAX vaccine scheme, bringing the total number of vaccines received in the country through the programme to over six million as authorities prepare to give out booster shots to the most vulnerable, Iraq’s ministry of health said on Wednesday.
“The Ministry of Health of Iraq affirms the continuity of its efforts to provide vaccines procured through the COVAX Facility, of which Iraq is a partner, and to increase the number of outlets to increase vaccine uptake in the shortest possible period,” Iraq’s Acting Minister of Health and Environment, Hani Mousa Badr al-Akabi said.
Iraq has bought into the World Health Organization (WHO)-led vaccine scheme called COVAX to supply vaccines to developing nations; a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines
The ministry said Iraq received about three million doses in the last week of November. “We welcome the arrival of these vaccines as they arrive at a time where Iraq is stepping up efforts to contain the pandemic. This shipment is an important part of the continuing fight against COVID-19 in Iraq,” UNICEF Representative in Iraq, Sheema SenGupta, said in a statement released on Wednesday.
Iraq’s ministry of health on Tuesday announced that it was to administer a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to high-risk groups that include the elderly, health workers and people with chronic diseases.
Over 7.5 million people have been vaccinated in Iraq, according to the ministry of health’s latest data; just under a third of the country’s estimated 23 million adults.
A third wave of the coronavirus hit the Kurdistan Region and Iraq between June and July, seeing record-high numbers of daily infections.
Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have recently witnessed an upsurge in coronavirus cases, with both areas registering high numbers of infections and deaths. Last month, Iraq warned of the spread of a new strain of the virus.
The surge has contributed to an increased demand for vaccines, but the decline in the rate of infections and misleading information has discouraged some people from getting vaccinated. Mid-November, the health ministry warned of a new wave as vaccinations declined.
Iraq's parliamentary crisis cell warned in August that not enough Iraqis were getting vaccinated to ward off the possible fourth wave of the coronavirus.
At the beginning of November, Baghdad said it will make the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine available for children aged 12 and above, with priority given to high-risk groups within the age range.
To date, Iraq has recorded over 2,000,000 cases and 23,844 deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, including in the Kurdistan Region.
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