The Iraqi Ministry of Health announced that it is making arrangements to purchase the Pfizer-BoiNtech vaccine as part of its efforts to curb the coronavirus’s spread.
In a statement on Thursday, the Ministry said it made contacts with the companies that said were working on producing vaccines, stressing that an agreement was recently reached with the Global Vaccine Alliance to secure vaccines that cover 20 percent of the Iraqi population.
Concerning the agreement with Pfizer, the statement revealed that several confidential meetings were held with the company since July, which were followed by other recent meetings in October and November.
The Ministry explained that “at the same time, we are still in contact with AstraZeneca and other Chinese and international companies."
"We are awaiting for the official approval of the vaccines by international agencies to initiate negotiations with them," it added.
The statement highlighted the immense efforts the Ministry has been exerting to contain the spread of the virus, despite the its limited capacities amid the harsh conditions facing the country.
Earlier on Wednesday, Iraqi President Barham Salih met with Minister of Health Hassan Al-Tamimi, after which he emphasized the need to continue to take measures that curb the spread of the pandemic and maintain communication with companies that were successful in finding a vaccine to provide it for Iraqis.
