Warning from Health Ministry Research Deputy Regarding Premature Authorization of Iranian Coronavirus Vaccines
Iran’s Deputy Minister of Research at the Ministry of Health has warned Health Minister Saeeid Namaki in a letter about the premature issuance of emergency permits for injecting Iranian-made coronavirus vaccines.
Farid Najafi stated in this letter that issuing a public use permit for Iranian vaccines “without completing phase three is a grave and historic decision, and vaccines such as Barkat and Pasteur can only be authorized without phase three under special circumstances.”
According to him, the aforementioned vaccines can be authorized without undergoing clinical trial phases only when “no approved and injectable vaccine exists in the country, there is no realistic prospect for importing effective vaccines in the short term, and at the same time there is an acceptable amount of domestically produced vaccine available from manufacturers seeking emergency use authorization.”
This letter was written at a time when Iranian media reports that the country is on the brink of a fifth wave of coronavirus infections and many priority groups have still not been able to receive vaccines.
Under these circumstances, government-affiliated media outlets also report, citing responsible officials including military officials, about the early supply of domestically produced vaccines.
Following Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s ban on the import of American and British vaccines to Iran in December of last year, the government has conducted extensive propaganda regarding the production of domestic vaccines, but no details in this regard are provided to the media.
On Wednesday night, Alireza Marandi, head of Iran’s Academy of Medical Sciences, announced that the first dose of Iran’s coronavirus vaccine would be injected into the Supreme Leader in the coming days.
The Barkat coronavirus vaccine, which Iran has extensively promoted, is scheduled to be produced and distributed by the Execution Headquarters of the Imam’s Directive, the most important economic institution under the Supreme Leader’s office, and according to officials of this headquarters, a major portion of the vaccine production and distribution market will be allocated to this institution.
Iran has a population of approximately 83 million and requires 160 million doses for vaccinating the entire population and at least 100 million doses for vaccinating at-risk groups. This is while so far approximately 800,000 doses have been injected in the first and second rounds.
Source: Radio Farda
