First shipment of controversial Russian vaccine to arrive in Iran on Thursday
In coordination with the Ministry of Health, the first shipment of Russian vaccine will arrive in Iran on Thursday, February 6. Experts have previously warned against using the Russian vaccine. Reputable international institutions have not yet approved this vaccine.
The spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Organization announced that, in coordination with the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education, the National Headquarters for Combating Corona, and the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, it has been decided that the first phase of the import of the Russian Corona vaccine will be loaded and entered the country by Mahan Air Company from Russia on Thursday, February 16.
According to Fars News Agency, Mohammad Hassan Zhibakhsh said about the volume and amount of the first shipment that "the volume and dosage of the Russian coronavirus vaccines in the first batch are in accordance with the request of the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education."
Several experts have previously warned against using the Russian vaccine.
Two days ago, 98 members of the General Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Medical System wrote an open letter to President Hassan Rouhani, emphasizing that, as representatives of the medical community in various cities across the country, they oppose the purchase of the "Sputnik V" vaccine and demand the purchase of "the best vaccines available in the world from multinational companies."
American and British companies are involved in the production of reputable multinational vaccines that have so far received approval from international institutions.
Ayatollah Khamenei, however, has banned the import of such vaccines. On January 9, the leader of the Islamic Republic announced, without providing expert reasons, that in his opinion, American and British vaccines are ineffective.
The Sputnik vaccine received national approval for use in Russia about six months ago, but the necessary information about the final stages of its clinical trials has not yet been submitted to independent institutions and the World Health Organization. The European Union is reviewing the vaccine, and the first comprehensive study on it was recently published in the scientific journal The Lancet, which indicates its effectiveness of 91 percent.
In a letter from members of the General Assembly of the Medical System, published before the publication of the Lancet study, they stated their reasons for opposing the SputnikV vaccine, noting that the "effectiveness and safety" of the vaccine "also faces ambiguity and objections in the producing country":
"A: Clear information is not available about the stages of research and development of the Sputnik V vaccine.
B: The Sputnik V vaccine has not been approved by any reputable global source, and its effectiveness and safety have been questioned by global communities and even scientific figures in the Corona Task Force.
A: The documents, evidence, and reasons for approving this vaccine have not been made available to experts in the medical community.
The letter further states that for the "medical community and the people of Iran," any consideration in this regard is "unacceptable and unforgivable."
Previously, Minoo Mahrez, a member of the scientific committee of the headquarters to combat the coronavirus, had said that he considered the import of the Russian vaccine "bad luck for the Iranian people" and was unwilling to inject it.
The use of the Russian vaccine in the European Union is currently ruled out
Russia announced last Friday, January 29, that it is ready to provide 100 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine to European countries, which could vaccinate 50 million people.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper wrote on Sunday, January 31, quoting the German Health Minister: "If a vaccine is assessed as effective and safe, it can help combat the coronavirus pandemic, regardless of which country it was produced in."
He emphasized that the decisive factor in this regard is the regular issuance of licenses for each vaccine in accordance with European Union laws. The European Medicines Agency is the only decision-making body for licensing drugs and vaccines in European countries.
But this agency has not yet approved any Chinese or Russian vaccines, and given the prerequisite that the German Health Minister called decisive, at least for now, it is not possible to use vaccines produced by these two countries in the European Union.
Russia claims to have submitted a request for a license for the Sputnik vaccine to the European Medicines Agency.
So far, three coronavirus vaccines, produced by pharmaceutical companies from Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom, have been approved by the European Medicines Agency and are being used in European countries: the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca vaccines.
