15 Dec 2020; MEMO: Iran will be ready to administer a locally produced coronavirus vaccine on high-risk patients by July, if the results of the vaccine's clinical trials are positive in January, a health ministry official said.
"Four local companies are currently working to produce a vaccine for coronavirus and the companies' products will begin the clinical trials phase in early January." a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Dr. Sima Sadat Lari, said in a statement yesterday.
Lari said that in addition to efforts to purchase the vaccine through the COVAX facility – a global body working to ensure equal access to the inoculation, the health ministry has been in consultations with three other countries; namely India, Russia and China, to purchase vaccines from them.
According to the Iranian official, the main obstacle facing Iran's efforts to purchase the vaccines is US sanctions.
"Despite the currency exchange problem, the health ministry in cooperation with some parties will follow up on the issue, and in recent days promising reports have been issued to complete consultations for the purchase of vaccines," she added.
The Islamic republic has registered 1.12 million covid cases with almost 54,500 deaths, making it the worst hit country in the Middle East.
