Cuban Coronavirus Vaccine Injections to Begin in Iran from Nowruz

Following Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s order to ban the entry of American and European coronavirus vaccines into Iran, Islamic Republic officials have announced the beginning of Cuban vaccine injections at Nowruz. Previously, Indian, Chinese, and Russian vaccines had also been discussed.

Mostafa Qanei, head of Iran’s Coronavirus Combat Headquarters, announced that by the end of the current Persian year (March 20, 2021), injections of the coronavirus vaccine jointly produced by Cuba and Iran will begin in the country.

On Monday night (December 11, 2020) during a television program, he said: “The vaccine being produced in Iran in cooperation with Cubans was injected in the first phase to 56 people in Cuba and in the second phase to over 100 other people in that country, but in the third phase, the trials are set to be conducted simultaneously in both Cuba and Iran to thousands of people.”

According to Qanei, domestic vaccine production has begun at six or seven Iranian companies, but the Cuban vaccine will likely reach the market sooner than all others. Accordingly, mass vaccine injections will begin in spring of next year in Iran.

The head of the Coronavirus Combat Headquarters said the first priority for vaccine injections would be medical staff, and then people over 65 years old who have diseases such as high blood pressure.

Joint Production by Cuba and Pasteur Institute

The previous day (December 22), the head of the Pasteur Institute of Iran announced the joint production of a coronavirus vaccine by Iran and Cuba. Dr. Alireza Biglari, in an interview with Moj Rasa, while referring to the experience and background of the Pasteur Institute in vaccine production, described this institution as the first in the Middle East to undertake vaccine production.

According to him, the Pasteur Institute’s cooperation with Cuba began around 20 years ago with the transfer of hepatitis B vaccine production technology from Cuba to Iran, and a very high percentage of Iranians have received this vaccine.

Dr. Biglari described the coronavirus vaccine production technology as one of the most advanced technologies and based on the pneumococcal vaccine infrastructure, saying: “This technology ensures that the vaccine is both safe and harmless while also providing excellent immunity.”

According to Reuters news agency reports, the “Finlay Vaccine Institute” announced on Friday evening (January 8, 2021) that it had signed an agreement with the Pasteur Institute of Iran.

Reuters reported from Cuban officials that the country would also need to test this vaccine on people from countries outside Cuba that have high infection rates. The rate of COVID-19 infection in Cuba has been kept at a low level due to proper management.

Iranian media quoted Kianosh Jahanpour, spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Health, as saying they have prepared 50,000 volunteers for the third phase of clinical trials.

According to Jahanpour, a prerequisite for transferring vaccine production technology from Cuba to Iran was permission to conduct the third phase of human testing in Iran.

Recently, Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, announced a ban on the entry of American and European-made coronavirus vaccines into Iran. Iranian health and medical officials, including the Health Minister, also supported this order.

Following that, the head of Iran’s Medical System Organization announced that two million doses of vaccine from China, India, or Russia would enter Iran by Nowruz.

Cuban Vaccine Echo on Social Media

With the announcement of the third phase Iranian-Cuban joint vaccine injections beginning in spring next year, a wave of criticism and protests has begun from social media users.

Most of these users, repeating a phrase from Ebrahim Raisi, head of the Judiciary who had said “Iran is not a testing laboratory for American and English vaccines,” have written that “Iran is not a testing laboratory for Cuban vaccines.”

Iraj Mesdaghi, a political activist, also stated that the Iranian-Cuban produced hepatitis vaccine was “an absolute failure.”

Reuters news agency had previously reported on the joint Iran-Cuba project for producing a coronavirus vaccine.

Some have also utilized comments from a hardline cleric who said “if Soleimani had not existed, Faezeh Hashemi would be Daesh’s maid,” to describe the use of Cuban-made vaccine in Iran as causing “disgrace” to Iranians.

Source: DW