TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani says some foreign companies have requested to test their vaccines on Iranian people but the officials have rejected it.

"Some foreign companies have requested to test their vaccines on our people, but the Ministry of Health and Medical Education rightly rejected this request. Our people should know they will not be subject for trial and error by international vaccine developers. Of course, some countries accepted this request but this does not relate to us," he said during the meeting of National Committee for Fighting the Coronavirus on Saturday.

Iran and Cuba are jointly developing a vaccine to counter the coronavirus pandemic.

Rouhani said, "If we can inject the vaccine to 500,000 Iranians every day and multiply this number by 60 million, it takes over 3 months to vaccinate the country" adding, "This means vaccination is a time-consuming process and all these issues were discussed during our meeting today."

Pointing to the rumors circulating about the corona vaccine, Rouhani said: "I ask all media outlets to stand against these rumors. Some try to involve people in false news. The true sources for news of this kind are experts of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and the National Committee for Fighting the Coronavirus."

The president also said purchasing and producing vaccine is a priority of the country. 

"Purchasing and providing vaccine is one of our priorities which will be accomplished, and on due time, under the conditions that we will declare, it will be distributed for use.”

He added, “Even if the vaccine comes, everyone should observe health protocols for the coming months so that we can achieve the favorable results."

JA/PA