TEHRAN – Two domestic companies have conducted research to develop vaccines against the Omicron strain, ISNA reported on Monday.

Following the relevant protocols of the Food and Drug Administration for the development of vaccines against new strains, two domestic companies have completed their studies for the production of vaccines against the Omicron variant and will enter the clinical phase, after receiving the code of ethics.

Hamidreza Jamaati, Secretary of the National Scientific Committee against Coronavirus, said that Iran has started developing this vaccine at the same time as developed countries and leading vaccine companies in the world.

A knowledge-based company also developed a technological test kit to diagnose the new Omicron strain.

Iranian Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has announced the beginning of a new wave of coronavirus pandemic, as the number of infected people with the Omicron variant is surging.

The minister urged more caution against the disease and said getting booster vaccinations could play a major role in preventing a fresh surge in the number of deaths and infections from the virus.

Homegrown vaccines

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

Made by researchers at the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, COVIRAN Barkat was the first homegrown vaccine unveiled on December 29, 2020, and received the license for public use on June 14.

The second Iranian-made vaccine developed by the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute (Razi Cov Pars) started the clinical trial on February 27.

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

Developed jointly by the Pasteur Institute of Iran and Cuba's Finlay Vaccine Institute, the Pastu Covac prevented symptomatic disease in people inoculated with three doses by 65 percent and its effectiveness in the prevention of severe disease and hospitalization was 96.5 percent.

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

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

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