Kurdistan Region records lowest rate of covid cases, third vaccine dose enters into force

The Ministry of Health in the Kurdistan Region announced on Saturday that it recorded the lowest daily covid cases and deaths three months after the third wave of the pandemic.

The Minister of Health, Saman Barzanji, said in a statement that the Kurdistan Region recorded the lowest number of covid cases and deaths during the past 24 hours after 3 months over the beginning of the third wave of the pandemic.

He added that the Kurdistan Region gives covid vaccines to 12 year-olds and over.

Barzanji also indicated that giving the third dose of covid vaccines has entered into force, calling citizens to receive the vaccine.

Iraqi authorities approved the use of booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The additional dose is given to immunodeficiency patients, people with chronic diseases, the elderly over 60 years of age, and health workers after no less than six months following receiving the second dose of one of the Covid-19 vaccines.

Most vaccines against COVID-19 require two doses administered within a relatively short time of each other to be fully effective. Third doses given at a later time are often referred to as booster shots. 

The decision came as the world is facing the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Israel, Egypt, and several Gulf states recently restricted travel to various African countries over such concerns. 

Only 11 percent of the Iraqi population has received the first two vaccine doses. Another 6.8 percent has received only the first dose, according to the Oxford-based Our World in Data. 

Iraq’s official coronavirus numbers are low. The country is averaging around 700 cases a day among its population of more than 40 million, per data from Reuters. 

So far, the country recorded over 2 million covid cases with recoveries also exceeding 2 million, while deaths from the virus reached over 23,800. Meanwhile, over 7.6 million received covid vaccines throughout the country.


PUKmedia