DOHA, Qatar

Qatar on Wednesday began a free coronavirus vaccination campaign for citizens who wish to be vaccinated, the Qatari Health Ministry said.

The ministry published late Tuesday on Twitter a video of the arrival of the first batch of the vaccine.

Head of the vaccination department at the ministry, Soha Al-Bayat, said in another video that, "the vaccine against the coronavirus is safe and has passed all regulatory approvals."

The Qatari Al-Sharq newspaper quoted the head of the National Strategic Group on COVID-19, Abdullatif al-Khal, as saying that "the vaccine is produced by Pfizer and BioNTech and provides a degree of protection of up to 95%."

Al-Khal added that his country will provide the vaccine for free in the largest vaccination campaign for all age groups.

As of Tuesday evening, Qatar had recorded a total of 142,308 virus cases, including 243 deaths and 140,129 recoveries.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat in Ankara