Iraq receives two million COVID-19 vaccine doses

A state company stated that the received vaccines are "safe and effective."

Mustafa Shilani 2021/08/08 17:25

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment on Sunday announced the arrival of two million doses of two types of COVID-19 vaccines, the largest number of jabs the country has received in a single day.

The Pfizer/BioNTech and Sinopharm vaccines were both a part of the shipment, the state company for marketing drugs and medical appliances (KIMADIA) said in a statement.

It added that the jabs "will be distributed to vaccination centers" across the country, including facilities inoculating internally displaced persons, and public servants.

KIMADIA affirmed that the vaccines are "safe and effective," adding to repeated calls by top officials for the public to get vaccinated.

On Sunday, the health ministry reported 8,346 new COVID-19 infections and 57 deaths due to the virus in the past 24 hours. The total case count has now risen to 1,712,709, including 19,203 deaths throughout the country.

The ministry stressed that Iraq is still "at the height of the third wave" of the outbreak and warned that the situation will "get out of control."

The coronavirus has infected more than 203 million people worldwide and killed over 4 million, according to Johns Hopkins University’s database. The actual figures could be dramatically higher due to insufficient testing capabilities or underreporting.