TEHRAN – Negotiations are underway with other countries to export the Iranian-Australian Spikogen vaccine, but the main priority is to meet domestic needs, Khashayar Roshanzamir, technical officer of clinical study of Spikogen vaccine, has said.

Referring to the provision of booster dose for the nation, he said that export becomes important when people’s need for a third dose is met, IRNA reported.

Referring to a monthly production capacity of 4 million doses, he stated that some 6 million doses have been delivered to the Ministry of Health and the same amount is ready.

Payam Tabarsi, a researcher of the project, noted that a booster dose of the vaccine can increase neutralizing antibodies by 25 times.

A booster dose of Spikogen can increase neutralizing antibodies by 25 times.“The results of a booster dose study show that people whose initial jab was a recombinant protein vaccine experienced an 11-fold increase in the neutralizing antibody by injecting a booster dose of this vaccine.

Those who were inoculated with AstraZeneca and Sputnik got a 14-fold increase in antibodies. While, people who were vaccinated by an inactivated virus such as Sinopharm and COVIRAN, got 25 times more antibody,” he explained.

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday authorized Spikogen coronavirus vaccines as a booster dose of all vaccines, deputy health minister Kamal Heydari said.

The vaccine is licensed for the first and second doses in the age group of 18 to 50 years and for the third dose in all people over 18 years of age, he added.

The Iranian-Australian Spikogen vaccine joined the national vaccination process in November 2021.

The results of the human test showed that the vaccine provides more than 87 percent immunity, while it will be more precise after more research, Tabarsi stated in November 2021.

According to the latest statistics, so far, 60,269,896 people have received the first dose, 53,018,325 people the second dose, and 11,000,974 people are inoculated with the third dose.

Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has said five coronavirus vaccines have been so far produced domestically.

Iran is one of the few countries that has all vaccine production platforms, Mohammad Reza Shanehsaz, former head of the Food and Drug Administration, said in June 2021.

Meanwhile, World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Iran Jaffar Hussain said in September 2021 that the Organization was collecting the necessary information for the registration and certification of Iranian-made coronavirus vaccines.

Iran has also produced vaccines jointly with two countries of Cuba and Russia.

FB/MG