Nearly 15 percent of those eligible in Kurdistan Region are fully vaccinated: KRG  

Vaccinations are only provided to those over 18-years-old in the Region, estimated to number about 3,256,000 recipients.
A health care worker administer COVID-19 vaccine at an inoculation centre in Erbil, August 7, 2021. (Photo: Safin Hamed/AFP)
A health care worker administer COVID-19 vaccine at an inoculation centre in Erbil, August 7, 2021. (Photo: Safin Hamed/AFP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Approximately 15 percent of those who are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines across the Kurdistan Region have been fully vaccinated against the virus, according to the Region's health minister.

Saman Barzinji, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Health Minister, disclosed these figures on Thursday in a press conference held to mark the arrival of a new batch of personal protective equipment (PPE) from the World Health Organization (WHO) for Kurdish health care workers.

Vaccinations are only provided to those over 18-years-old in the Region, estimated to number about 3,256,000 recipients.

Approximately 13 percent of those eligible have been fully vaccinated. Another 20 percent have received their first dosage, the minister said.

He expressed his delight over the fact that the Kurdistan Region is now receiving about 100,000 doses each week. As a result, vaccination rates have "doubled".

The latest WHO batch consists of 16 PPE items, including face masks, gowns, and medical goggles. Overall, the batch is worth about $300,000. 

This latest delivery is part of the $3-4 million in medical aid the international organization provided to the Kurdistan Region to help it fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Aso Hawezy, the ministry's spokesperson, told Kurdistan 24 on Thursday.

Kurdistan launched its vaccination drive in early March after it received a batch of 5,000 Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccines, which were distributed mainy among health care workers.

As schools and colleges are reopening in the Region, the health authorities are hastening the vaccination drive.

As part of this effort, a new coronavirus vaccination center was opened on Soran University's campus where students, staff, and the faculty can get inoculated against the highly contagious virus.

Read More: Soran University opens COVID-19 vaccination center for students, staff and faculty

The Region has so far documented over 322,000 cases of COVID-19, 5,700 of which have been fatal.