COVID-19: Iraq announces third, 'more deadly' wave of pandemic

Mustafa Shilani 2021/06/26 15:50

Iraqi officials have often complained about the public's lack of commitment to health guidelines, including the wearing of masks. (Photo: AFP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment on Saturday announced that the country had entered a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the past few days, Baghdad health officials have recorded a significant increase in the number of new infections, now close to those recorded last summer.

"The new wave of the pandemic that has entered the country is more severe and more deadly than the first and second waves," Ministry of Health spokesman Saif al-Badr told the press.

Authorities complain that the major cause of continued soaring numbers is the general lack of commitment by a majority of the population to health guidelines and restrictions. Vaccination-hesitancy is also common in the Middle Eastern nation.

Badr said that facing the third pandemic wave requires "focusing on prevention methods, the most important of which are wearing masks and social distancing, as well as vaccination."

His ministry, he continued, has begun implementing an expanded plan that includes increasing the quantities of vaccine doses delivered to health clinics and boosting the number of vaccination sites in the capital of Baghdad and the throughout provinces.

So far, Iraq has reported 1.3 million confirmed cases of the virus, including 17,033 deaths, since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country last year.

Washington said last week that Iraq would receive a portion of the remaining 55 million COVID-19 vaccines the United States has allocated to be shared globally.

US President Joe Biden has pledged to share 80 million doses from the American stockpile by the end of June. Twenty-five million doses have already been allocated, and the administration said Monday that 25 percent of the remaining 55 million, or around 14 million doses, would soon be shared "with regional priorities and other recipients," including Iraq.

The White House did not say what portion of the 14 million doses would go to Iraq or specify a timeline for delivery, saying, “we will move as expeditiously as possible, while abiding by US and host country regulatory and legal requirements, to facilitate the safe and secure transport of vaccines across international borders.” The Kurdistan Region typically receives 10-15 percent of the jabs delivered to Iraq.

Editing by John J. Catherine