Iraqi Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi said on Monday that Iraq would receive three million doses of the coronavirus vaccine late this month, while the Ministry of Health reported 984 new COVID-19 cases. The efforts made by the Ministry of Health with the World Health Organization and companies producing vaccines, especially the companies approved by the Iraqi National Board for Selection of Drugs (NBSD), resulted in setting the end of this month as the date for delivery of vaccines to the Iraqi Ministry of Health, al-Tamimi said in a televised news conference. "Iraq will get 2.5 to 3 million doses, which will arrive at the end of this month," al-Tamimi said without giving further details about the kind of vaccine. He said that the vaccines will first be distributed to health personnel, security personnel, medical workers, elderly over 50 years old, and people with chronic diseases. On Jan. 19, the ministry said that the NBSD had approved the emergency use of China's Sinopharm and Britain's AstraZeneca vaccines to contain the spread of the COVID-19 in the country. Previously, the NBSD already approved the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to combat the pandemic. Also in the day, a statement by the Ministry of Health reported 984 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide number of cases to 620,620. The ministry also reported 10 new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 13,057. It said that 1,255 cases recovered during the day, bringing the total recoveries to 593,384. A total of 5,661,047 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020, with 38,504 done during the day, according to the statement. Iraq has taken a series of measures to curb the pandemic since the first coronavirus case appeared in the country. China has been helping Iraq fight the COVID-19 pandemic. From March 7 to April 26 in 2020, a Chinese team of seven medical experts spent 50 days in Iraq to help contain the disease, during which they helped build a PCR lab and install an advanced CT scanner in Baghdad. China has also sent three batches of medical aid to Iraq.
