TEHRAN – Tests performed on volunteers who received the Iranian-made COVID-19 vaccine showed that the immunogenicity of “COVIRAN BAREKAT” is about 90 percent.

COVIRAN BAREKAT, the first coronavirus vaccine made by Iranian researchers of the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, was unveiled and injected into three volunteers during a ceremony on December 29, 2020.

Immunogenicity tests have been performed on about 35 volunteers so far, and the results show that the vaccine has higher immunogenicity than we expected, Mohammad Reza Salehi, clinical conductor of the Iranian coronavirus vaccine announced.

“Test results show that about 90 percent of people who received the second dose of the vaccine showed evidence of immunity after two weeks,” he added.

Determining this issue requires a more detailed statistical study, but preliminary results show that the vaccine is about 90 percent immunogenic, he highlighted, noting, phase one of the clinical trials is nearly over so that now all 56 volunteers have received the first dose of the vaccine and 30 have received the second dose of the vaccine.

He went on to say that the second phase of the clinical trial will begin by the end of the current [Iranian calendar] month (March 20).

Noting that the second phase will last by the end of May, he stated that “most likely, the second and third phases will be merged, and in the middle of this phase, an initial report will be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration.”

“If the report is approved, we will enter the third stage of the human trial,” IRNA quoted Salehi as saying on Sunday.

Mass vaccination

Iran started mass vaccination with Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, with the priority given to medical staff, the elderly, and people with underlying diseases; and is also going to be co-produced by the two countries.

Importing vaccine from COVAX, a global initiative to ensure rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, is also on the agenda.

On January 27, Health Minister Saeed Namaki said that there are four different ways to supply the coronavirus vaccine, including direct purchase from a foreign country, procurement from the World Health Organization’s COVAX facility, a joint production with a Cuban company as well as domestic production of the vaccine.

He emphasized that Iran will soon be one of the world’s important manufacturers of the COVID-19 vaccine.

New cases and mortalities

In a press briefing on Sunday, Health Ministry’s spokesperson Sima-Sadat Lari confirmed 7,901 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of infections to 574,012. She added that 1,344,791 patients have so far recovered, but 3,689 remain in critical conditions of the disease.

During the past 24 hours, 74 patients have lost their lives, bringing the total number of deaths to 59,483, she added.

So far, 10,444,695 COVID-19 diagnostic tests have been performed in the country. 

Lari noted that currently, 11 cities are at high-risk “red” zones, 217 cities in low-risk “yellow” zones.

FB/MG