BAGHDAD, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- An Iraqi health official said on Tuesday that Iraq wants to secure the Russian COVID-19 vaccine after it is internationally approved, as the country's health ministry reported 3,396 new cases during the past 24 hours.
The Iraqi health authorities are continuing to follow up the international attempts to produce coronavirus vaccines, said Riyadh Abdul-Amir, head of the ministry's public health department, in a press release.
Abdul-Amir's comments came hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia had registered the world's first vaccine against the novel coronavirus.
The new 3,396 cases brought the total nationwide infections in Iraq to 156,995, with 18,901 testing kits used during the day, the ministry said in a statement.
So far, Iraq has used 1,183,950 testing kits, according to the ministry statement.
It also reported 67 fatalities during the day, raising the death toll to 5,531, while 2,312 more patients recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 112,102.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Iraq has been taking measures to contain the pandemic.
China has been helping Iraq fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
From March 7 to April 26, a Chinese team of seven medical experts spent 50 days in Iraq to help contain the disease, during which they helped build a PCR lab and install an advanced CT scanner in Iraq's capital Baghdad.
Since March 7, China has also sent three batches of medical aid to Iraq.
