The Iraqi ministry of health declared 1.57 million Iraqis have received the Corona vaccine during the past month, and rate of the vaccinated people in the disputed territories in the provinces of Kirkuk, Diyala, Ninewa and Salahaddin has soared up 3 to 5%, as in Basra it is up 6% compared to only 2% in Sulaymaniyah northern province.
Based on reports by Ministry of Health and the Central Bureau of Statistics, KirkukNow reviews the number of population and the percentage of people who have received corona vaccines.
Across Iraq, 7,363,074 people received the vaccine as of November 28, equivalent to 17.7% percent of the total population which is according to the figures of the Central Statistics Agency of the Iraqi Ministry of Planning is estimated at 41,190,658. One month ago, only 14% of Iraqis were vaccinated.
The disputed territories
In the disputed territories, Diyala province has recorded the largest percentage of vaccinated people in Iraq at 20.6% while the lowest percentage was in Nineveh at 14.2%.
Kirkuk Province
In the Northern oil-rich province of Kirkuk 308,362 people had received the Covid-19 vaccine as of November 28, which is equivalent to 17.8 percent of the population, estimated at 1,726,409 people.
The percentage of vaccinated people in October was only 14.3%, which means that the number of vaccinated people increased by more than 3 percent.
The administration of Kirkuk issued a circular to all its departments to deny access to the unvaccinated to all government departments including schools and universities, a restriction aimed at curbing the spread of the Corona virus, extensively effective in government departments since the beginning of this week.
Kirkuk health department launched a campaign to vaccinate visitors of state premises and students at schools via mobile teams which was criticized following death of a student 2 days after he received the vaccine.
On November 27th, Mustafa Adnan Khalaf, student of grade 12 in Daquq high school passed away. He has received Covid vaccination with classmates on November 25th. Kirkuk health department said the ministry of health in cooperation with a team from World Health Organization WHO to investigate the case.
Kirkuk, November 23rd 2021: Police prevent patients without vaccination cards from entering a food distribution company Photo: KirkukNow
Nineveh Governorate
Until October 28, the percentage of vaccinated people in Nineveh Governorate was 10.8 percent of the total population, but on November 28 the rate was boosted to 14.2%.
Out of a four million residents, about 573,000 people have so far received vaccines.
Iraq has joined the inoculation race back in March by receiving batches through COVAX, COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access which is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.
Diyala Province
In Diyala province, almost 21%, about 365,000 people out of 1.1 million residents have received the vaccine, which is the highest percentage in the disputed areas, compared to only 16.3 a month ago.
The disputed include Kirkuk and large swathes of Ninewa, Diyala and Salahaddin provinces which ranges from Khanaqin in Diyala on the border with Iran up to Shingal (Sinjar) in Ninewa on the border with Syria.
Baghdad currently controls almost the entire area while the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government KRG claims is should be annexed to Kurdistan region claiming most of the inhabitants are Kurds which live with Arabs, Turkmens, Ezidis (Yazidis) and Christians as well.
Salahadin Province
Out of a 1,723,546 people in Salahadin, about 350,000 people, which constitutes 20%, received jab.
Baghdad and Erbil
In Baghdad the capital 20% were vaccinated compared to 15% in Erbil, capital of the KRG.
In a month, Baghdad has raised rate of the vaccinated from 16.5% to 20% but in Erbil it has jumped 3 % only, from 12 to 15.
In Baghdad, about 1.8 out of a 8.8 million took the jab while in Erbil, 304,000 out of two millions.
The increase in the proportion of people vaccinated against the Corona virus during the past month in the Iraqi governorates compared to the governorates of the Kurdistan Region, comes after that the Iraqi government stipulated in June 2021 based on the recommendations of the Ministry of Health and with the aim of creating immunity against Corona, taking the vaccine or conducting a Corona examination on a weekly basis for state employees though the procedure came into force intensively a month ago.
Basra and Sulaymaniyah
Among the eight governorates KirkukNow obtained the statistics of vaccinated, Basra in the south has recorded the highest which hit 24% and the lowest was in Sulaymaniyah, only 11.5%.
In Basra, 758,253 people received Covid vaccines out of a three million population while in Sulaymaniyah, only 269,000 out 2.34 million were vaccinated.
A month ago, the percentage of people who received the vaccine in Sulaymaniyah was 9.4% and hit 11.5% in a month meaning it has recorded the lowest increase compared to the other seven provinces.
In Basra, the records jumped from 18% to 24% which is the highest increase in the percentage out of eight provinces covered in this story.
Compulsory vaccination in Iraq
The administrative departments in Iraqi provinces, with the exception of the Kurdistan Region, circulated a decision to all government departments and educational circles, which asks to show vaccination card or a PCR test for all civil servants, visitors of state departments, students and teachers.
On August 22, 2021, the acting governor of Kirkuk, Rakan Saeed al-Jubouri, sent out an admin order to all government departments in Kirkuk, requiring the employees and visitors to present Covid vaccination card, starting from September 1st.
The letter clearly states that any citizen who refrains from taking the Corona vaccine must bring with him a Corona examination test that proves that he is not infected with the virus.
People who have medical reports that proves they are unable to receive the vaccine, or have not been infected with the Corona virus for three last months, are excluded from the decision.
