Seniors in Erbil care home get first COVID-19 vaccine jabs

An elderly man receives his first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at Erbil Caregiver House, April 29, 2021. (Photo: KRG)
An elderly man receives his first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at Erbil Caregiver House, April 29, 2021. (Photo: KRG)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Senior citizens in the Kurdistan Region’s capital Erbil received their first coronavirus vaccine jabs on Thursday as part of the region’s focus on prioritizing older people.

Out of nearly 60 elderly women and men living at Erbil Caregiver House, 40 received their first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, the home’s director Kamaran Tofiq told Kurdistan 24.

The recipients, all over 55 years old, first underwent medical examinations, Tofiq added.

Health authorities in the the Kurdistan Region have prioritized certain groups to receive COVID-19 vaccines, including seniors, people with chronic medical conditions, and medical workers, who began getting the vaccines in early March.

The Region has also distributed the Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinopharm vaccines.

As of April 18, 55,820 vaccines had been been delivered to the Kurdistan Region and health workers had administered more than 80 percent of the available doses, according to the regional health ministry. 

Officially, the Kurdistan Region has recorded more than 149,000 infections, of which more than 4,000 people have died since the pandemic’s outbreak in March 2020.

Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly