[ad_1]
Published in:
Tehran (AFP)
Iran expects to receive the first batch of the Russian “Sputnik-V” vaccine against the emerging corona virus by February 4, according to the official news agency “IRNA”, according to the ambassador of the Islamic Republic in Moscow.
On the sidelines of his meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced on Tuesday that Iran, the Middle Eastern country most affected by Covid-19, had issued a license to approve the vaccine.
IRNA quoted the Iranian ambassador in Moscow, Kazem Jalali, that “after the registration of the Sputnik-V vaccine in Iran, which was announced by Foreign Minister Zarif in Moscow, the purchase and co-production contract between Iran and Russia was signed yesterday.” “
He added that “the first batch of the vaccine will be sent to Iran no later than February 4,” explaining that the agreement includes the shipment of two more batches until the end of the month (for 18 and 28 of the same), without specifying the quantity. that each batch contains.
Iran has officially announced that more than 1.4 million people have been infected with the virus, of which almost 57.9 thousand have died, since the first cases of Covid-19 were recorded in February 2020.
In early January, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, banned the importation of vaccines made in the United States or the United Kingdom, saying there is “no trust” in them.
Iranian officials have complained about obstacles to buying vaccines due to the difficulty of transferring money due to economic sanctions imposed by Washington on Tehran. Although the sanctions theoretically exclude food and medical supplies, many foreign banks are refraining from doing business with the Iranian for fear of being subject to sanctions.
The Sputnik-V vaccine, named after the first satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, faced criticism from around the world when it was launched in August 2020, as announced before the start of the third phase of clinical trials. and the publication of scientific results in this regard.
Since then, it has been given the green light to use it in many countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Hungary, the Palestinian Territories, Serbia, and Belarus.
In addition to seeking to import vaccines, Iran is working to develop local vaccines, and in December it announced the start of clinical trials on one of them.
© 2021 AFP
