TEHRAN – The injection of Pastu Covac vaccine provides 100 percent immunity against the omicron strain, Alireza Biglari, head of the Pasteur Institute has said.

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.

Pastu Covac is the only homegrown vaccine available for injection in children aged 2-18, he said, adding, clinical trials have shown that the vaccine is highly efficient and safe.

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, he stated.

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, Biglari said.

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

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 two first phases of the human trial have been conducted in Cuba, while the third phase was carried out on 24,000 volunteers in Iran and 44,000 volunteers in Cuba.

It is the only vaccine in the world that can fight several mutations simultaneously, Biglari said in July.

Homegrown vaccines

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

Made by researchers at the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, COVIRAN BAREKAT was unveiled on December 29, 2020, and received the license for public use on June 14.

It proved effective against Indian strain, according to Hojjat Niki-Maleki, head of the information center of Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam.

Eleven countries from Asia and South America, and a European country have asked for importing COVIRAN vaccine, Hassan Jalili, the vaccine’s production manager, said in June.

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

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