TEHRAN – Seven million doses of the Iranian-Cuban Pastu Covac vaccine are ready to be delivered to the Ministry of Health.

So far, 15 million doses of the vaccine have been produced, 8 million of which have been used in the vaccination process and the rest are ready to be delivered to the ministry, Alireza Biglari, head of the Pasteur Institute said.

He went on to say that the monthly production capacity of this vaccine is about five million doses and can be increased.

Clinical trials have shown that the Pastu Covac vaccine is highly efficient and reliable.

Developed jointly by the Pasteur Institute of Iran and Cuba's Finlay Vaccine Institute, the vaccine is called Soberana 02 in Cuba and Pastu Covac in Iran.

It is a conjugate vaccine with two injectable doses, which consists of the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein conjugated chemically to tetanus toxoid.

The vaccine prevented symptomatic disease in people inoculated with three doses by 65 percent and its effectiveness in the prevention of severe disease and hospitalization was 96.5 percent.

Pastu Covac is the only homegrown vaccine available for injection in children aged 2-18.

Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has said five coronavirus vaccines have been so far produced domestically.

Iran is one of the few countries that has all vaccine production platforms, Mohammad Reza Shanehsaz, former head of the Food and Drug Administration, said in June 2021.

Meanwhile, World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Iran Jaffar Hussain said in September 2021 that the Organization was collecting the necessary information for the registration and certification of Iranian-made coronavirus vaccines.

Iran has also produced vaccines jointly with two countries of Australia and Russia.

FB/MG