Iraq has approved the emergency use of a Chinese vaccine to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Iraqi Ministry of Health spokesman Sayf al-Badr told Xinhua that the Chinese vaccine, developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), "conforms to the NBSD standards, and therefore the Iraqi state approved it for use inside Iraq."

All logistical preparations have been made to receive the vaccines while the groups that would take the vaccine shots have been identified, the ministry said in a separate statement.