BAGHDAD, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's ministry of health on Monday reported 4,102 new COVID-19 cases during the past 24 hours, raising the nationwide caseload to 1,172,042.
The ministry also confirmed 24 new deaths, bringing the death toll from the virus to 16,214, while the total recoveries in Iraq climbed by 4,769 to 1,086,612.
A total of 10,161,013 tests have been carried out in Iraq since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020, with 39,605 done during the day, the ministry said in a statement.
The statement also said 17,505 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 during the past 24 hours across the country, bringing the total number of doses administered to 536,182.
Ruba Falah, head of the ministry's media office, said in a press release that the average number of people receiving COVID-19 vaccines is gradually increasing.
"The vaccination of some well-known religious, political, sports and cultural figures have contributed to pushing citizens to receive the vaccines," she said.
"The vaccines are safe, effective, and approved by the World Health Organization," she said, stressing that more than half a million Iraqis have received the COVID-19 vaccines.
Iraq has been pushing forward its vaccination drive since the drug authority approved the emergency use of China's Sinopharm vaccine and other COVID-19 vaccines.
Since the early stage of the pandemic in 2020, the Chinese government has sent medical aid to Iraq and donated two shipments of Sinopharm vaccines to the country.