Iraqis look with suspicion at the step taken by Baghdad by announcing that it will soon receive the Russian vaccine, which has been criticized by experts, and are afraid of switching to experimental mice for the vaccine announced by Moscow, despite not completing the necessary experiments, Al Hurra said in a report.

A member of the Coronavirus Crisis Cell in the Iraqi Parliament, Nehru Muhammad, revealed that Iraq is among the 20 countries that have applied for the Coronavirus vaccine from Russia, while the Ministry of Health has identified the top slots in the priority list.

The local "Nas" website quoted Nehru as saying that "the Russian authorities have stated that this vaccine will arrive in Iraq soon."

He explained, "The priority in giving this vaccine will be to critical cases, and then determine the categories that can be provided with the vaccine."

However, Iraq's announcement of its request for the Russian vaccine raised Iraqi fears of the risks of a vaccine whose effectiveness has not yet been tested and raises the concern of experts in the world.

And the fears of some experts who questioned the effectiveness of the Russian vaccine cast a shadow over some Iraqis.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the approval of the production of the first effective vaccine against the emerging corona virus in the world.

Moscow said that the vaccine provides "sustainable immunity" against the virus, but Western scientists had expressed concern about the speed of development of Russian treatments and considered that researchers are not strict.

The vaccine was named "Sputnik V", after the first artificial satellite that helped put the Soviet Union at the forefront of the space race during the Cold War in 1957.

The World Health Organization commented cautiously on this announcement, noting that the "pre-licensing stage" and licensing of the vaccine are subject to "strict" mechanisms.

Source: The Baghdad Post