TEHRAN – Two consignments of Sputnik V and AstraZeneca vaccines supplied by Russia and Japan were imported on Friday and Thursday, respectively.

The tenth batch of Sputnik V vaccines, amounting to 100,000 doses, was delivered to the Iranian embassy in Moscow on Wednesday and entered Tehran on Thursday, IRNA reported.

To date, more than one million doses of Sputnik vaccines have been imported to the country.

Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali said in April that the country has finalized a deal with Russia to purchase 60 million doses of Sputnik V vaccines.

Supported by Iran’s Ministry of Health, the contract was signed between the Iranian Embassy in Moscow and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to buy 60 million doses of vaccine, which is enough to vaccinate 30 million people.

On July 25, Jalali wrote on his Instagram that Russia itself is suffering from a shortage of vaccines, therefore they cannot export vaccines to any country.

Jalali said he had held a meeting with Igor Morgulov, the Russian deputy foreign minister, discussing various issues such as vaccines, the issues pertaining to Iranian merchants and students. 

“Regarding the vaccine issue that I raised with him, he acknowledged that there is a shortage of production in Russia and because of this shortage, no vaccine is currently sent to any country, and after improving the vaccination process in his country, Russia will fulfill its obligations. the diplomat underlined.

“They will be committed to it,” Ambassador Jalali added.

Meanwhile, Japan delivered the second consignment of AstraZeneca vaccines, amounting to one million doses, to the Ministry of Health on Friday.

The first batch of vaccines supplied by Japan had been imported on July 23.

Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, announced on July 13 that the Japanese government will donate 2.9 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Iran through the COVAX facility.

Iran has so far received two batches of vaccines from the COVAX facility. The first shipment included over 700,000 doses of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by South Korean firm SK Bioscience, and the second one consisted of 1,452,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by Catalent Anagni of Italy.

The Islamic Republic is currently producing vaccines jointly with three countries of Cuba, Russia, and Australia, which may also be released by September, while two homegrown vaccines have so far received the emergency use license.

Homegrown vaccines

COVIRAN BAREKAT, the first coronavirus vaccine made by researchers at the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam which was unveiled on December 29, 2020, started to be mass-produced on March 29.

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.

MG