TEHRAN – The domestic manufacturers of coronavirus vaccine have managed to increase their monthly production to 10 million doses, Seyed Heydar Mohammadi, an official with the Food and Drug Administration, has said.

Currently, COVIRAN Barekat and Spikogen vaccines are produced in seven million doses per month, he stated, adding, Pastu Covac, Cov Pars, and Fakhra also produce about one million doses each and will increase production capacity in the coming months.

So far, more than 70 percent of Iranians have received the first dose and more than 47 percent have been fully vaccinated, he noted, highlighting that in the coming months, the trend of domestic production will accelerate.

Some 14 vaccines are being domestically developed in Iran. According to the Food and Drug Administration, 14 vaccines are being domestically developed in the country which are in different study phases.

Made by researchers at the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, COVIRAN Barekat is the first domestic vaccine that was unveiled on December 29, 2020, and received the license for public use on June 14.

Pastu Covac, developed jointly by the Pasteur Institute of Iran and Cuba's Finlay Vaccine Institute, is another homegrown vaccine, which has received the emergency use license, after COVIRAN.

Lately, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use license for two other domestic vaccines of Razi Cov Pars and Fakhra.

Iran is one of the few countries that has all vaccine production platforms, Mohammad Reza Shanehsaz, former head of the Iranian Food and Drug Administration, said in June.

With the efforts of local experts, the 20-year path of vaccine development was completed in a few months, he highlighted.

In the field of vaccine production, great and unique steps were taken by the pharmaceutical industry, he noted, ISNA reported.

Meanwhile, World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Iran Jaffar Hussain said in September that the Organization was collecting the necessary information for the registration and certification of Iranian-made coronavirus vaccines.

"Despite the severity of the pandemic, Iran has been able to control the epidemic to an acceptable level by taking necessary measures,” he added.

FB/MG