CAIRO, Jan. 29, (Xinhua/GNA) – Morocco launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign on Thursday, a day after receiving the first batch of Chinese vaccines.
Meanwhile, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Turkey surpassed 2.45 million.
Moroccan King Mohammed VI received the first shot of COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday as a nationwide vaccination campaign was launched across 3,000 locations, a day after Morocco received the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines from China’s Sinopharm.
Moroccan Health Ministry said the mass vaccination campaign will gradually reach health professionals over the age of 40, school teachers, members of public authorities, troops and people over the age of 75, before extending to the rest of the population.
Morocco reported on Thursday 756 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of infections in the country to 469,139. Its death toll rose by 17 to 8,224, while the total recoveries increased to 447,076.
Turkey reported 7,279 new COVID-19 cases, including 670 symptomatic patients, pushing its total confirmed cases up to 2,457,118.
The death toll from the virus in Turkey rose by 129 to 25,605, while the total recoveries climbed to 2,340,216 after 8,902 more cases recovered in the last 24 hours, according to the Turkish Health Ministry.
Turkey started mass vaccination campaign on Jan. 14 after the authorities approved the emergency use of the Chinese CoronaVac vaccine. More than 1.69 million people have been vaccinated as of Thursday.
Iran reported 6,527 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total nationwide infections to 1,398,841. The pandemic has so far claimed 57,736 lives in Iran, up by 85 in the past 24 hours.
A total of 1,189,975 people have recovered from the disease, while 4,017 remained in intensive care units.
The Iraqi Health Ministry reported 943 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total nationwide number of cases to 617,202.
The ministry also reported six new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 13,024, while 1,933 cases recovered during the day, bringing the total recoveries to 588,260.
Israel’s total number of coronavirus cases rose by 3,224 to 624,814, of which 74,821 are active cases.
The COVID-19 death toll in Israel rose by seven to 4,612, while the number of patients in serious condition increased to 1,178, out of 1,779 hospitalized patients.
The number of active coronavirus cases among Israeli soldiers reached 2,042, with 96 new cases added, the highest figure since the outbreak of the pandemic, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Lebanon registered 3,497 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number in the country to 293,157, while its death toll from the virus went up by 68 to 2,621.
Lebanon launched on Thursday a platform that allows citizens to register their names to have access to COVID-19 vaccines as the country is expected to receive the first batch of vaccines by mid-February.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) confirmed 3,966 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total cases in the country to 293,052.
It also reported 3,294 new recoveries and eight more deaths, taking the tally of recoveries in the UAE to 267,024 and the death toll to 819.
Kuwait’s tally of COVID-19 cases surged by 588 to 163,450, while the death toll rose by one to 958. It also announced the recovery of 648 more patients, taking the total recoveries to 156,387.
In Oman, the total number of confirmed cases rose by 154 to 133,728.
The tally of recoveries from the disease in Oman climbed by 86 to 126,572, while two new deaths were reported, taking the death toll to 1,527.
In Qatar, 347 new COVID-19 infections were announced, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 150,280.
Qatar’s tally of recoveries increased by 163 to 145,414, while its total fatalities remained unchanged at 248 for the 11th day.
GNA