Iran

Iran’s Inexhaustible Combat against Coronavirus Yielding Fruit

Scholars and specialists maintain that Iran has made great progress in making coronavirus vaccine as the country’s breathtaking battle against the deadly disease has resulted in promising achievements and 8 of the Iran-made vaccines have been nominated by the World Health Organization to accelerate the global effort against the virus fatality.

Eight Iran-made vaccines have been registered as COVID-19 vaccine candidates by the WHO along with their Chinese, Russian, American and German vaccines.  

According to experts, mass production of a vaccine would take 12 to 15 years in usual conditions; while the time will be reduced significantly due to the emergency.

Meanwhile, Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki announced on Monday that 4 companies in the country have managed to end coronavirus vaccine testing on animals and are ready to conduct human trials.

“To supply the coronavirus vaccine, we follow three methods: first is to participate in COVAX with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO), the second method is cooperation with Pasteur Institute and the countries which are active at international level to produce vaccine, and finally with the efforts and seriousness of my colleagues in the knowledge-based companies and Razi Institute, where good measures have already been adopted,” Namaki said, addressing a joint virtual meeting with the WHO officials on Monday.

“Fortunately, 8 companies out of 12 firms which had taken good steps to produce the vaccine are in a desirable situation and 4 of them are entering the phase of testing coronavirus vaccine on humans,” he added.

Earlier, Chancellor of Iran University of Medical Sciences Jalil Kouhpayehzadeh had announced that the university is hosting two home-made coronavirus vaccine trials on humans.

“Several groups in the country are working on a vaccine for the coronavirus, and universities are working with scientists to this end so that we can provide closer samples and solutions for our compatriots proper for Iranians,” Kouhpayehzadeh said on Saturday.

“At present the vaccine has entered the human trial phase and we are hosting two trials on humans at Iran University of Medical Sciences,” he added.

Kouhpayehzadeh said many people have volunteered for testing the Iran-made coronavirus vaccine so far, adding that proper candidates should be selected from among them.

Moreover, Commander of Basij (volunteer) forces Brigadier General Gholamreza Soleimani announced preparedness of 55,000 Basij bases to help the health ministry in screening Iranian people across the country for coronavirus infection.

“A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed under the supervision of the Health Ministry to implement a complementary plan to combat the coronavirus, the most important feature of which is to be neighborhood-based and home-based, and groups will be deployed in neighborhoods, and the identification and screening of patients will be conducted with the support of 55,000 Basij bases,” General Soleimani told reporters in a press conference in Tehran on Monday on the occasion of Basij week.

He referred to the past activities of Basij forces in fighting the coronavirus, and said Basij has screened more than 70 million people under the supervision of the Health Ministry so far.

General Soleimani added that despite some problems in the first days of the coronavirus outbreak, Basij has been able to produce more than 17mln masks at workshops across the country per day.

The Iranian health ministry announced on Monday that 13,053 new cases of coronavirus infection have been identified across the country during the past 24 hours, adding that 486 patients have passed away during the same period.

“13,053 new patients infected with COVID-19 have been identified in the country based on confirmed diagnosis criteria during the past 24 hours,” Iranian Health Ministry Spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said on Monday, and added, “3,133 patients have been hospitalized during the same time span.”

She added that the total number of COVID-19 patients has increased to 775,121.

“Unfortunately, 486 patients have lost their lives in the past 24 hours, increasing the number of the dead to 41,979,” the spokeswoman noted.

Lari expressed satisfaction that 564,699 coronavirus patients have recovered or been discharged from hospitals so far.

The spokeswoman further said that 5,677 cases infected with COVID-19 are in critical conditions.

She went on to say that 5,545,444 coronavirus diagnosis tests have so far been carried out across the country.

Lari warned that 31 provinces are still marked red or in the status of alert.

Back to top button