TEHRAN – The first batch of COVIRAN BAREKAT, equaling 300,000 doses of the first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, was unveiled in a ceremony on Tuesday.

The first large-scale production line of the vaccine with a capacity to produce three million doses is ready for operation, ISNA reported.

The second production line with a capacity to produce 17 million doses of the vaccine will be launched by the next two months.

COVIRAN BAREKAT was unveiled on December 29, 2020, and started to be mass-produced on March 29.

Iran is among the first countries which started developing a vaccine against coronavirus, and now four companies are endeavoring to release their products by September and inoculate the whole population.

Out of 16 vaccine production cases, four cases received a code of ethics and are undergoing clinical trials. It is hoped that another three to four cases will succeed in receiving licenses by September.

Iran is also currently producing vaccines jointly with three countries of Cuba, Russia, and Australia.

One of the vaccines is the Cuban-Iranian Soberana-02 vaccine, and the other is the Russian-Iranian Gamaleya vaccine, while the third joint vaccine will be produced in Iran in cooperation with Australia.

Iran started mass vaccination against COVID-19 with the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine on February 9.

Homegrown vaccines

The second Iranian coronavirus vaccine, Razi Cov Pars, which started the clinical trial on February 27, will be mass-produced in early August.

Fakhra vaccine, the third homegrown vaccine, was unveiled and started the clinical trial on March 16.

On January 27, Health Minister Saeed Namaki said Iran will soon be one of the world’s important manufacturers of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Two European countries and three regional countries have asked to purchase COVIRAN BAREKAT, Mohammad Mokhber, the head of the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam has said.

Tests performed on volunteers who received COVIRAN BAREKAT showed that the immunogenicity of the vaccine is about 90 percent.

With the outbreak of coronavirus, Iran surged its production to meet the country’s need for self-protective equipment along with medical and pharmaceutical items to fight against the virus, at a time when other developed countries were struggling with a severe lack of personal protective tools.

Iran is one of the top five manufacturers of coronavirus antigen-based rapid detection kits in the world; as homegrown antibody rapid test, which can detect coronavirus in 15 to 20 minutes, was unveiled in Tehran on November 17, 2020.

Sourena Sattari, vice president for science and technology, told the Tehran Times in September 2020 that some of the knowledge-based companies reached a production capacity of more than 200-300 thousand diagnostic kits per day, which surpassed the country’s need for diagnostic kits, and there is a great export potential.

MG