TEHRAN – Iran welcomes Russia's success and achievements in COVID-19 vaccine production and believes that the international community should also welcome it, the Iranian ambassador to Russia has said.

Iran has been conducting research on the production of the vaccine since the onset of the outbreak and collaborated with Russia in this regard, but Russia has been able to achieve success in this regard, not only we welcome, but also the international community should welcome it, Kazem Jalali said in an interview with Sputnik news agency on Thursday.

Iran welcomes any achievement by any country that succeeds in discovering a vaccine or medicine to eliminate the deadly virus, he added.

WHO should approve the vaccine 

Meanwhile, Iraj Haririchi, the Iranian deputy health minister, said that in total, 165 vaccines are being developed in the world, 27 of which have reached the human trial.

The vaccine, announced by Russia, is one of eight vaccines that have been successful in the third phase of the clinical trial, he noted.

The Ministry of Health can talk about this vaccine in two ways; one is through the World Health Organization (WHO), when announces the necessary approvals for this vaccine, and the other is through bilateral cooperation with Russia, he stated.

He went on to say that if a coronavirus vaccine is produced in the world and with proper quality, we will provide it to our people without a doubt, adding, the important point is that most of the vaccines that are proposed have an effect of 50-70 percent and do not have a long period of safety.

As WHO officials have stated, despite the discovery of these vaccines, we still need to adhere to the principles of social distancing and personal hygiene, as the vaccines’ effects are not significant at the moment in terms of both final effects and duration of safety, he highlighted.

The number of people diagnosed with coronavirus in Iran reached 338,825 on Friday, of whom 19,331 have died and 293,811 recovered so far. Over the past 24 hours, 2,501 new cases of people having the virus have been identified, and 169 died, Sima Sadat Lari ministry of health’s spokesman said.

Currently, 3,956 patients with coronavirus are in critical condition, she added.

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