Iraq to Sign Contract with Pfizer for Additional COVID-19 Vaccines

A nurse administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center in the Kindi Hospital in Iraq's capital Baghdad on April 14, 2021. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
A nurse administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center in the Kindi Hospital in Iraq's capital Baghdad on April 14, 2021. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
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Iraq to Sign Contract with Pfizer for Additional COVID-19 Vaccines

A nurse administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center in the Kindi Hospital in Iraq's capital Baghdad on April 14, 2021. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
A nurse administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center in the Kindi Hospital in Iraq's capital Baghdad on April 14, 2021. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)

Iraq is seeking to sign a contract for additional coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer, a Ministry of Health official has revealed.

Director of the Public Health Department Riyad al-Half said that the Ministry wants to sign a contract with Pfizer for an extra 3 million doses to bring the total to 6 million.

So far, 215,801 people have been vaccinated in Iraq since March.

Iraq has received Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines, and expects to be delivered more doses on a weekly basis.

The Ministry reported on Saturday 6,188 new coronavirus cases, raising the total infections to 977,175.

It also reported 33 new deaths, raising the death toll to 14,981, while the total recoveries climbed by 6,814 to 856,532.

A total of 8,805,486 tests have been carried out across the country since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020.

The Ministry said that 10,308 people were vaccinated in the past 24 hours across the country.



EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
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EU Condemns Israel's West Bank Control Measures

The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli settlement of Har Homa, seen from the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP)

The European Union on Monday condemned new Israeli measures to tighten control of the West Bank and pave the way for more settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, AFP reported.

"The European Union condemns recent decisions by Israel's security cabinet to expand Israeli control in the West Bank. This move is another step in the wrong direction," EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni told journalists.


Atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher Were 'Preventable Human Rights Catastrophe'

Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Atrocities in Sudan's El-Fasher Were 'Preventable Human Rights Catastrophe'

Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Sudanese displaced people who left El Fasher after its fall, sit in the shade in Tawila at the Rwanda camp reception point on December 17, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

The atrocities unleashed on El-Fasher in Sudan's Darfur region last October were a "preventable human rights catastrophe", the United Nations said Monday, warning they now risked being repeated in the neighbouring Kordofan region.

 

"My office sounded the alarm about the risk of mass atrocities in the besieged city of El-Fasher for more than a year ... but our warnings were ignored," UN rights chief Volker Turk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

 

He added that he was now "extremely concerned that these violations and abuses may be repeated in the Kordofan region".

 

 

 

 


Arab League Condemns Israel's Decisions to Alter Legal, Administrative Status of West Bank

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
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Arab League Condemns Israel's Decisions to Alter Legal, Administrative Status of West Bank

A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)
A general view shows the opening session of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers at the Arab League Headquarters (Reuters)

The General Secretariat of the Arab League strongly condemned decisions by Israeli occupation authorities to impose fundamental changes on the legal and administrative status of the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly in the West Bank, describing them as a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of international law, international legitimacy resolutions, and signed agreements, SPA reported.

In a statement, the Arab League said the measures include facilitating the confiscation of private Palestinian property and transferring planning and licensing authorities in the city of Hebron and the area surrounding the Ibrahimi Mosque to occupation authorities.

It warned of the serious repercussions of these actions on the rights of the Palestinian people and on Islamic and Christian holy sites.

The statement reaffirmed the Arab League’s firm support for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them the establishment of their independent state on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.