Parliamentary committee reveals government pressure to contract with the "Pfizer"

Shafaq News / Member of the Parliamentary Health and Environment Committee, Jawad Al-Mousawi, warned on Sunday of a health "catastrophe", as the cabinet's advisors continue to pressure the Ministry of Health towards contracting with the American company “Pfizer”.

Al-Mousawi said in a statement, “the Iraqi Council of Ministers tends to pressure the Ministry of Health to contract with Pfizer to provide Iraq with COVID-19 vaccine”, adding, "this option is scientifically incorrect as the American company’s vaccine needs storage conditions that are not currently available in Iraq.”

Al-Mousawi demanded the Prime Ministry's advisors, "to investigate the damage of thousands of vaccines in Iraq in the past years because of the high temperature of preservation that exceeds the recommended temperature (-5 to zero) and the high prices of the vaccines. The price of the two doses is more than $ 24 dollars."

He added, "the first dose of the vaccine, which does not exceed coverage from 10 to 20% of the population, will not reach Iraq for 4 months from now", indicating, "it is better for the Ministry of Health to approach other companies whose vaccines need simpler storage conditions, lower levels of preservation, cheaper prices, better efficacy and shorter processing time than the Pfizer vaccine, such as the AstraZeneca vaccine or the Chinese company SinoPharm, as both of which can be stored in regular refrigerators and do not require complicated storage places."

Al-Mousawi indicated, "The Sinopharm vaccine, in a single dose, provides more than 95% effectiveness at a price less than $10, and the Iraqi government can secure a contract for it within the Iraqi-Chinese agreement without paying cash in advance, as other companies producing the vaccine require."