Iran accuses US of thwarting its efforts to purchase covid vaccine A photo illustration of covid vaccine [Abdullah Coşkun - Anadolu Agency] December 10, 2020 at 8:52 am Iranian officials have accused the United States of thwarting its efforts to purchase the coronavirus vaccine, Bloomberg reported yesterday. The agency said Tehran hoped to use the billions of US dollars held in South Korean won currency to purchase the vaccines under an agreement it had reached with Seoul a few months ago. However, the Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Abdul Nasser Hemmati, said on Monday that the US sanctions are preventing Tehran from making advance payment to the global COVAX facility co-managed by the Global Alliance for Vaccines (GAVI) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to provide COVID-19 vaccines to poorer countries.