A Parliamentary Member: Coronavirus Vaccine Won’t Reach Iran So Soon

A member of the Health and Treatment Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly says that even disregarding sanctions, it will take at least two years for the coronavirus vaccine to reach Iran.

Homayoun Samehe on Tuesday, December 22, told ISNA news agency that coronavirus vaccine production and import will not happen “so soon” and that “people should know that for now there will be no coronavirus vaccine in Iran.”

According to him, “Other European countries have already purchased the vaccine in advance and intend to use it. So Iran’s turn won’t come this soon. Moreover, transporting this vaccine itself has its own problems.”

This parliamentary member meanwhile emphasized that “we must draw a line on importing the vaccine from America into our country” and should not be “credulous” in this regard.

His remarks come as Saeid Namaki, the Health Minister, has claimed that Iran intends to obtain 18 million doses of vaccine from sources approved worldwide and has selected “four sources” for purchase.

Without referring to these sources, Namaki however added that Iran intends to negotiate with other vaccine manufacturers in the world to “purchase any surplus from their vaccine production.”

Currently, two vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, manufactured by American and German companies, have completed their trial phases and if approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, are scheduled to be used from the beginning of December.

However, most doses of these two vaccines have been pre-purchased by the United States or European countries, and it is unclear whether excess production exists.

Source: Radio Farda