Iran s health professionals reject Russia s Covid-19 vaccine
Following Iranian authorities’ approval of Russia s Sputnik V vaccine, health experts in Iran rejected the vaccine, saying that they would not use the jab for themselves and their family members. It s only because of Iranian s bad luck that the government is going to import a vaccine from Russia,
- Minoo Mohraz, Iranian health official
Last week, Iran s Zarif announced that Tehran would import two million doses of Russia s vaccine by 20 March. However, Minoo Mohraz, a member of Iran s national coronavirus task force, immediately denounced the officials decision to buy the Russian vaccine.
Tehran, Iran – An announcement by Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif last week that Russia’s primary coronavirus vaccine candidate has become the first approved foreign vaccine in Iran sparked a fierce debate.
Zarif was in Moscow as part of a diplomatic trip across the Caucasus when he announced the approval of Sputnik V for emergency use and said Iran aims to start co-producing the vaccine in the near future.
The first shipment of 10,000 doses is expected to arrive in Iran on Thursday while up to 400,000 doses are expected in several instalments before the current Iranian calendar year ends in late March.
Posted by Scott Lucas | Feb 7, 2021 |
A woman is injected in Iran’s first trial of a domestically-produced Coronavirus vaccine, December 2020
UPDATE, FEB 7: President Hassan Rouhani has pledged a “significant number” of vaccinations by the start of Iranian New Year on March 20.
Speaking at the National Coronavirus Task Force on Saturday, Rouhani said medical staff, the elderly, and people with underlying diseases would be given priority.
Rouhani called for continued observation of social distancing and Coronavirus protocols. He noted the deaths in recent days of two former member of the Iranian national football team, both of whom were in their 40s.
Health authorities in Iran have confirmed that its locally made COVID-19 vaccine (COVIran Barekat) is effective against the mutant variant of the virus |
Tehran, Iran – Iranian health officials say the country’s top COVID-19 vaccine candidate has been shown to work on the variant of the coronavirus first discovered in the United Kingdom.
Hassan Jalili, who oversees local vaccine production at Setad, a powerful state organisation under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, said on Saturday that tests on the blood samples of volunteers who received two doses of COVIran Barekat have yielded promising results.
“Tests have shown that the blood plasma of the people who were injected with the vaccine in human trials is capable of completely defusing the mutated virus of the English corona[virus],” he said.