Iraq gets first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine

BAGHDAD, Iraq

Iraq said on Sunday it has received the first batch of the German-American Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine.

“Iraq received 50,000 doses out of three million it has ordered from the company,” Health Ministry spokesperson Seif el-Badr said in a statement.

Baghdad has signed deals to purchase 16 million doses from the British AstraZeneca vaccine, two million of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and another two million of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine.

Iraq has so far confirmed 918,155 virus infections, including 14,678 deaths.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara