TEHRAN – The Central Bank of Iran has announced an advance payment to purchase 16.8 million doses of coronavirus vaccine through the COVAX, a global initiative to ensure rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

In order to receive 16.8 million doses of the COVAX vaccine, an advance payment was credited to the World Health Organization with the cooperation of two Iranian banks and three European banks, CBI Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati wrote on his Instagram account on Tuesday.

More budget has been proposed to buy the vaccines, which is awaiting the Ministry of Health’s approval, he added.

Christoph Hamelmann, WHO Representative in Iran, said on December 28 that sanctions imposed by the United States will have no effect on importing coronavirus vaccines by Iran from the COVAX.

“We support and assist Iran in obtaining essential items from the global market, and we did so since the beginning of the pandemic, as we anticipated the provision of medicine to be affected by sanctions,” he added, ILNA reported.

COVAX member states, including Iran, will jointly decide on which brand of vaccine each country to purchase, and the final decision will be announced by the officials, he noted.

The first coronavirus vaccine made by Iranian researchers was unveiled and injected into three volunteers during a ceremony on December 29, 2020.

After vaccination, the candidates must remain in quarantine for a week to a month to show the side effects of the vaccine. In the meantime, the test results are checked several times for blood and cellular immunity.

After the results of the study are determined, the second stage begins with the injection in 500 people, and after 28 days, the third phase begins with mass production.

FB/MG