TEHRAN – Iran on Tuesday officially inaugurated a coronavirus vaccine production unit which is said to be the largest of its kind in West Asia.

Health Minister Bahram Einollahi attended the inauguration ceremony of the plant which will produce 300-350 million doses of COVIRAN Barkat vaccine per year, IRNA reported.

The vaccines will be supplied to the domestic market and their surplus will be exported.

The process for global registration of the COVIRAN Barkat vaccine for coronavirus started on January 27 by holding a virtual meeting with the World Health Organization officials.

COVIRAN is the first vaccine in West Asia that is in the process of global registration.

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, 2021.

Iran is the sixth country in the world and the first country in West Asia to gain the ability to produce the Coronavirus vaccine.

According to a new study, the effectiveness of the Iranian-made COVIRAN Barkat vaccine in fighting the coronavirus has been more than foreign rivals, namely Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, and Sputnik.

In June 2021, Hassan Jalili, the vaccine’s production manager, said eleven countries from Asia and South America, and a European country have asked for importing COVIRAN vaccine.

MG