VP: Iran Manufacturing All Products Needed to Fight Coronavirus

Iranian Vice-President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari said on Tuesday that the country manufactures all products and equipment necessary for campaign against the coronavirus.

“All products related to coronavirus disease are produced domestically and we have not imported any of these products since March,” Sattari told reporters.

He noted that any new drug produced in the world to fight against COVID-19 disease has been manufactured in Iran 30 days to 45 days later, and expressed the hope that the Iran-made coronavirus vaccine would also be produced soon.

Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki said on Monday that his country will in the near future stand among the biggest manufacturers of coronavirus vaccine in the world.

“I promise that we will become one of the largest vaccine producers in the world soon and we will export our vaccines to everywhere,” Namaki said, and further added, “We will vaccinate all vulnerable groups in the country by September.”

“We have been pursuing supply of vaccine (from foreign firms) in three ways since last March in a bid to provide the safest type of vaccine. In addition, we have also closely pursued indigenous production of the vaccine,” he added.

“In addition, we have worked with Cuba and as a result we will make one of the best vaccines even sooner than (the fully Iranian) Barakat at the Pasteur Institute and we expect to produce it in March,” Namaki said.

Namaki said last Thursday that Iran will become an important hub for production and exports of coronavirus vaccine in two to three months.

“Iran will turn into one of the very important hubs for production of coronavirus vaccine in the region in the next two or three months and we will be one of the exporters of the vaccine in the world,” Namaki said.

He added that after the coronavirus outbreak in Iran, the country has been able to add 2,500 new ICU beds to the hospitals.

Namaki had said last week that his country will in the near future produce the best vaccines in the world, including the coronavirus vaccine.

“Iran will turn into an important vaccine production hub in the world in the next few months. We will produce the best vaccines in the world in the very near future,” Namaki said, addressing a ceremony to unveil the country’ first injectable-inhaled vaccine of Covid-19 recombinant protein produced at Razi institute.

He underlined Iran’s preparedness to produce new recombonent vaccines.

Namaki added that Iran will begin COVID-19 vaccination by using imported vaccines earlier this month.

The top priority groups of people for vaccination are doctors and nurses working at intensive care units of the hospitals, the minister said.

Namaki said that Iran has chosen and imported one of the least harmful and less dangerous vaccines after assessing the most credible vaccines available.    

Iran insisted from the very beginning that it imports a vaccine only if it has already undertaken the third phase of its human trial, the minister said.

Iran has also provided some 16.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from COVAX for vaccination of 8.4 million people, he said, noting that more vaccines are still needed to be imported.

Iran took delivery of the first batch of Sputnik-V vaccines from Russia on Thursday.

Iran in a parallel move to imports of vaccine is trying to produce home-made vaccine to fight against coronavirus.

Chairman of the Headquarters for Executing Imam Khomeini’s Order (HEIKO) Mohammad Mokhber underlined the capability of the Iran-made vaccine to deactivate the new British coronavirus, saying that the country hopes that the vaccine can also resist against other types of COVID-19 virus mutations.

“The Iranian vaccine has shown very excellent performance against the mutated coronavirus spreading in Britain and we hope that the Iran-made vaccine will succeed in confronting the future mutations of the coronavirus too,” Mokhber said earlier this month.

He added that infrastructures and facilities have been prepared to mass-produce the Iran-made coronavirus vaccine, adding that the country will be ready to produce 12mln to 14mln doses of the vaccine in mid spring.

Mokhber said that a number of world states have demanded to purchase the Iran-made vaccine, stressing that the Iranian citizens are a priority to receive the vaccine.