TEHRAN – Pastu Covac and Sinopharm are the safest COVID-19 vaccines that will soon be injected into children aged under 18, Mohammad Reza Shanehsaz, head of the Iranian Food and Drug Administration, has said.

Pastu Covac, developed jointly by the Pasteur Institute of Iran and Cuba's Finlay Vaccine Institute, is the only homegrown vaccine available for injection in children aging 2-18.

These two vaccines are licensed to be used for people under the age of 18, he said, adding, Pastu Covac and Sinopharm provide immunization against COVID-19 based on clinical studies conducted in adolescents.

Mass vaccination has been accelerated, as over 1 million doses are being injected daily. The study of Pastu Covac (called Soberana 02 in Cuba) was performed in Cuba on children and the emergency use license has been obtained.

Pastu Covac vaccine is a conjugate vaccine with two injectable doses. It consists of the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein conjugated chemically to tetanus toxoid.

The two first phases of the human trial have been conducted in Cuba, while the third phase was carried out on 24,000 volunteers in Iran and 44,000 volunteers in Cuba.

Mass vaccination gathering pace

Mass vaccination has been accelerated, as over 1 million doses are being injected daily, which can be achieved only by few countries, Alireza Raisi, a spokesman for the National Headquarters for Coronavirus control, has said.

“We plan to double the number of vaccination centers, which is about 1,008 by now,” Raisi stated, adding, in addition, we plan to operate most centers in two work shifts to increase the speed of vaccination and to surpass 1.5 million injections per day.

He went on to in total, about 20 million doses of vaccine will be imported by the end of September, adding, about 30 million doses also will be delivered to the country since October.

Mass vaccination against COVID-19 started on Iranian citizens with the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine on February 9.

While Iran continues efforts to mass-produce local candidates, over 40 million doses of foreign vaccines have already been imported, and others are expected soon.

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

FB/MG