TEHRAN – The Ministry of Health has not purchased any foreign coronavirus vaccines since November 2021, deputy health minister Mohammad Mehdi Gooya, has said.

All the contracts that the Ministry of Health for the purchase of vaccines is signed with domestic companies, and purchases are done based on the contracts, he stated.

So far, Iran imported more than 161,933,728 doses of vaccine to combat the pandemic.

Iran is the sixth country in the world and the first country in West Asia to gain the ability to produce the coronavirus vaccine.Four types of vaccines have been imported to Iran, the largest amount of which is related to Sinopharm with 133.4 million doses, accounting for 82.3 percent of the total imported vaccines.

AstraZeneca vaccine is the second vaccine imported the most, amounting to 23.3 million, holding 14 percent share of the total vaccines imported to the country.

Moreover, 4.9 million doses of Sputnik-V have been imported to Iran, which holds a 2.5 percent share of the imported vaccines. In addition to 125,000 doses of the Indian vaccine of Bharat.

Domestically-made vaccines

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

Considering that five coronavirus vaccines have so far been produced domestically, Mohammad Reza Shanehsaz, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration, said in June 2021 that Iran is one of the few countries that has all vaccine production platforms.

A total of 21 knowledge-based companies are operating to produce 50 million doses of vaccine monthly and 600 million doses annually, IRNA quoted Bahram Daraei as saying on March 9.

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

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

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, are other vaccines, which have received the emergency use license and are being used in mass vaccination.

Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has said the country is currently exporting domestically-made vaccines for coronavirus to ten African countries.

FB/MG