Iraq orders vaccines, imposes travel ban

Iraq’s government ordered new coronavirus restrictions including border closures on Tuesday, even as it signs a preliminary deal to receive 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. Following its weekly meeting, the cabinet said it was taking new measures “following the emergence of a new strain of the coronavirus” that has spread rapidly in the UK and also been detected in other countries. It announced land borders will close and travel to the UK, South Africa, Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Iran and Japan will be stopped immediately. Non-Iraqi citizens currently in those countries will not be allowed to travel to Iraq. — AFP