Error occured during this request! Please try again later.
Iraq
Workers unload a delivery of Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine from a plane at the international airport in Manila, Philippines on May 1, 2021. Photo: handout/presidential-communications operations office/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iraq’s health ministry announced its intention to import Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine soon as the government continues its vaccination campaign and numbers of new cases begin to decline.
The ministry is close to completing all the required procedures to import the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, the ministry’s director of public relations, Ruba Falah, said in a statement to the state newspaper.
Sputnik V, which requires two doses, is easy to store and transport and will add to the millions of doses of vaccines expected to arrive soon, Falah added.
The Russian vaccine was the first produced worldwide, but it has not yet been widely approved. Medical journal The Lancet in February said it is 91.6 percent effective and appears safe.
On Thursday, Sputnik Light was authorized for use in Russia – a single dose version of the vaccine with a reported effectiveness of 79.4 percent.
Three vaccines are already available in Iraq – Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, and Pfizer – and the health ministry is urging people to register for vaccination online.
Falah said that health centers will remain open during a 10-day lockdown that will be imposed from May 12 to May 22, during the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
"All health centers are open during the days of curfew to receive citizens wishing to get the vaccines,” Falah said.
On Saturday, Iraq recorded 4,608 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total up to 1,108,558. The country saw a second wave of infections, beginning in February, but numbers have begun to decline over the past two weeks. A total of 425,628 vaccine doses have been administered.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment