Iran receives 700,000 coronavirus vaccines through COVAX
“We purchased 16.8 million doses of vaccine from the COVAX mechanism."
By SETH J. FRANTZMANUpdated: APRIL 6, 2021 14:55A member of the Imam Khomeini Hospital medical personnel receives a dose of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, in Tehran, Iran, earlier this month.(photo credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)Iran, which was harshly hit by COVID-19 last year and continues to suffer under the pandemic, has received its first batch of vaccines, reports say. Some 700,000 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine were shipped to the Islamic Republic on Sunday. Iran’s Tasnim news reported the shipment. Administration spokesperson Kianosh Jahanpour said the vaccines come under the COVAX program for poorer countries. Iran will get 16 million doses. Tehran has also sought to use Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine since February. “According to Alireza Raeisi, spokesman for the National Headquarters for Coronavirus Control, some 790,000 doses of vaccine have so far been imported to the country,” Iran said, not giving further details. “We purchased 16.8 million doses of vaccine from the COVAX mechanism, and they were supposed to have delivered 4.2 million doses since March 21 – however, [only] some 780,000 doses were delivered,” Iran stated. “Currently, about 250,000 people in the country have been vaccinated and about 56,000 others have received the second dose of the vaccine,” the report notes.Iran is also making its own vaccines called Coviran Barekat and Razi Cov Pars. “Fakhra vaccine, the third homegrown vaccine, was unveiled and started the clinical trial on March 16,” says Iranian media. Iran has seen about two million COVID-19 cases and 63,000 deaths. Some 13,183,709 COVID-19 diagnostic tests had been performed by last Sunday.
