90 percent of COVID-19 vaccine doses have been used, says KRG health ministry
“More than 90 percent of the vaccine doses, 56,000 doses of all types, have now been used. A small number is left. Another batch will arrive in the coming says and the gap will be filled,” Aso Hawezy told Rudaw’s Shaho Amin.
“There were delays in receiving the vaccine at the beginning but fortunately now there is a demand for it,” added Hawezy, saying more than 82,000 people have registered for vaccination on the ministry’s online portal.
Kurdistan Region health minister Saman Barzanji has previously said that those vaccinated against COVID-19 will receive an internationally-recognized "vaccine visa" card, which he stressed will be needed in the future as vaccination campaigns take place across the globe.
The Region has received doses of the the Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines. Many people in the Kurdistan Region have been reluctant to get vaccinated despite calls from officials and awareness campaigns.
However, the arrival of the Pfizer vaccine appears to have prompted an increase in demand, with crowds waiting in front of Erbil’s Rizgari hospital earlier this month in the hope of being inoculated.
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) health advisor Aram Rostam previously told Rudaw Radio that the ministry will continue to raise awareness of the benefits of vaccination, saying more people are “coming around” to the idea.
Vaccination against COVID-19 began in the Region in early March. Goran Othman, a health worker at the intensive care unit in Erbil's West Emergency Hospital, was the first to be vaccinated against the virus.
However, measures are still in place to curb the spread of the virus, with schools remaining closed for most pupils.
The Kurdistan Region on Sunday recorded 843 new cases of the virus and 15 deaths in 24 hours.
A total of 146,031 cases and 3,959 deaths have been recorded in the Kurdistan Region since the pandemic began.
Rudaw
