TEHRAN – Noora coronavirus vaccine, developed and produced by Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), has received an emergency use license.

Noora is the sixth Iranian-made vaccine against coronavirus to receive emergency use permits from the Ministry of Health, after COVIRAN, Pastu Covac, Razi Cov Pars, Spikogen, and Fakhra, to be included in the country’s vaccination process.

The third phase of the human trial has been completed being administrated to 10,000 volunteers, Hassan Abolqasemi, chancellor of Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, said.

The results of the first and second stages of the clinical trial showed that Noora is completely safe and effective and people can get it as a booster dose, he further noted.

So far, five million doses of the vaccine have been produced and are ready to be provided to the Ministry of Health, he stated, IRNA reported on Monday.

He further highlighted that vaccine development under harsh sanctions is not an easy achievement, however, relying on their scientific strength and capacity, our researchers have done this great work.

Noora is a recombinant protein vaccine, and initial studies show that this vaccine can provide high immunity to the omicron strain.

Domestically-made 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 BARKAT 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.

Developed by the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Razi Cov Pars is the second Iranian-made vaccine that started the clinical trial on February 27.

Moreover, the Iranian-Australian Spikogen vaccine and Pastu Covac, developed jointly by the Pasteur Institute of Iran and Cuba's Finlay Vaccine Institute, are other vaccines, which have received the emergency use license.

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.

FB/MG