First doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to hit Iraq by February
Iraq has pushed hard to be among the world’s first countries to receive and distribute the vaccine after committing $170 million to COVAX, a global body to promote the vaccine.
Iraq is expected to receive its first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine by February, according to Iraq’s Health Minister on Monday.
Last month, the ministry announced it had signed a preliminary deal with the vaccine makers to import 1.5 million doses by early 2021. Health Ministry spokesperson Saif al-Badr confirmed this week with state-owned newspaper al-Sabah that Iraq’s share of the vaccine is now 8 million doses, enough to cover 20% of the country’s population. Troops, health care workers and the elderly are prioritized for vaccines, Badr had said in December.
