A total 100,800 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have arrived in Iraq - the first delivery among 15 million doses that Italy has pledged to COVAX, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Italy stands by Iraq and supports its efforts in tackling the Covid-19 pandemic” said Italy's ambassador to Iraq, Bruno Pasquino.
“This donation is a tangible sign of the solidarity and friendship ties between Italy and Iraq, with a view to contributing to economic, social and sanitary recovery," he added.
Pasquino was attending the delivery of the vaccines at the Baghdad International Airport together with the Director General of the Public Health Directorate of the Iraqi Ministry of Health, Riyadh Al-Hilfi, and the representatives of WHO and UNICEF to Iraq, Ahmed Zouiten and Sheema SenGupta.
In May, alongside the European Commission, Italy as G20 president hosted The Global Health Summit, which saw seven European countries pledge to share over 100 million vaccine doses with priority countries like Iraq, boosting short-term supplies.
This donation by Italy, one of the main contributors to Gavi (the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization), allows COVAX to deliver more vaccines in the third quarter of this year, meaning that more people will be able to access vaccines now, at a time when variants are a major threat to global health and stability.
