COVID-19: Kurdistan Region has received over 1.5 million vaccine doses since early April

The Kurdistan Region is now receiving about 100,000 doses each week.

Halgurd Sherwani 2021/10/01 09:06

A view of discarded plastic syringes at a vaccination center in Baghdad, April 14, 2021. (Photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP)

Kurdistan Vaccine Krg Health COVID-19 Iraq

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Since the beginning of its mass vaccination drive in early April, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has received over a million and a half doses of the coronavirus vaccine, from both donations and its allotted share of Iraq's national supply, according to the regional health ministry.

Nearly a million citizens have so far received at least one shot of either of the three vaccine brands being distributed in the autonomous region: Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, and Sinopharm, according to the ministry’s latest tally. The most widely used jab is the one made by Pfizer-BioNTech.

The total number of vaccine doses so far shipped throughout the four provinces of the Kurdistan Region is now 1,549,570, the government said on Thursday.

Despite its efforts to independently secure additional vaccine doses, the KRG has not yet been able to purchase any shots directly from vaccine makers. Its two sources for vaccines have been the Iraqi federal government – of which the Kurdistan Region's share is 10-12 percent – and donations from other countries such as the US and China.

Approximately 15 percent of those who are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines across the Kurdistan Region have been fully vaccinated against the virus, the ministry recently announced.

We're vaccinating at pace in 171 centers across Kurdistan. More than 1 million vaccine doses have been administered and 500,000 additional doses acquired. Help us protect Kurdistan’s future - get vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/zP6zONWQjx
— Masrour Barzani پابەندین# (@masrour_barzani) October 1, 2021

The KRG is now receiving about 100,000 doses each week. As a result, vaccination rates have "doubled," said Kurdistan Region Health Minister Saman Barzinji in late September.

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

Recently, new COVID-19 infections have averaged at roughly 1,300 per day. Since the first case was confirmed in April 2020, the Kurdistan Region has so far seen over 332,000 cases, of which more than 5,800 have been fatal.