China sends Kurdistan Region 5,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses: KRG

Halgurd Sherwani 2021/02/07 16:13

A health care worker tests a suspected COVID-19 patient in the Kurdistan Region's Sulaimani province. (Photo: AFP)

Kurdistan China COVID-19 Krg Kurdistan Region Vaccines

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – China will soon send 5,000 doses of its Sinopharm vaccine to the Kurdistan Region, the health authority told Kurdistan 24 on Sunday.

“The vaccines will soon reach the Kurdistan Region,” said Aso Hawezi, the spokesperson for the Region’s health ministry,without giving a specific date for the arrival of the shots.

Around “2,500 individuals” are initially expected to receive the vaccines, Hawezi said, as two doses are required for the body produce enough antibodies to protect against the coronavirus.

The vaccine, a product of the Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm, has recently been approved for emergency use in a number of countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), whose health ministry said the vaccine’s efficacy is 86 percent.

“It is part of the cooperation between Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Health Ministry cooperation with foreign representatives in the Region, including the Chinese Consulate General,” Hawezi said, adding that he appreciated the “initiative” by the Chinese representative in the Region.

Previously, health authorities announced that the Kurdistan Region will have shares of any vaccine that the Iraqi health ministry purchases. Most recently, the Region’s health officials announced that they are also seeking to independently buy vaccines from inoculation manufacturers.

In late January, a conference on the COVID-19 vaccination strategy was held in the Kurdistan Region’s capital Erbil, in which the challenges of immunization in Iraq and the autonomous Kurdish region were discussed.

The KRG Health Minister Saman Barzinji recently told Kurdistan 24 that doses of the vaccine were expected to arrive in late February.

The Chinese vaccine can be stored at 2˚C to 8˚C (36˚F to 46˚F), standard refrigerator temperatures, according to the country’s vaccine experts.

China has previously assisted the Kurdistan Region during the pandemic with the much-needed testing tools and medical necessities for health care workers.

Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly