Iraqi MoH prioritizes two sections in the vaccine eligibility list

Shafaq News/ The Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment rolled a roster of the citizens eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines in the forthcoming period.

The Ministry said in a press release today, Thursday, the Minister of Health and Environment, Hasan al-Tamimi, instructed the Ministry to give the COVID-19 vaccine to the retired Healthcare personnel.

Al-Tamimi said that the list of eligible recipients includes teachers in the Higher Education and Scientific Research working in the Healthcare sector.

Al-Tamimi directed distributing the AstraZeneca vaccine batches in all Iraqi governorates and the Kurdistan Region.

The Ministry's spokesperson, Saif Al-Badr, stressed the need to complete the online registration in both Arabic and Kurdish languages to receive the vaccine, noting that the vaccine doses that arrived today are safe, effective, and conform to international standards approved by the World Health Organization.

UNICEF and the World Health Organization announced in a joint statement today that Iraq has received 336 thousand doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

COVAX is a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines led by UNICEF, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and others.

The AstraZeneca vaccine, which was manufactured at the SK Biopharmaceuticals corporation in South Korea, arrived on March 25 in Iraq.