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 4th. Previously, experts have warned against the use of the Russian vaccine. Reputable international bodies 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 Coronavirus Taskforce, and the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, it has been scheduled for the first phase of Russian coronavirus vaccine imports to be loaded by Mahan Airlines from Russia and brought into the country on Thursday, February 4th.
According to the FARS News Agency report, Mohammad Hassan Zeibakhsh said regarding the volume and amount of the first shipment: “The volume and dosage of Russian coronavirus vaccines in the first batch is based on the request of the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education.”
Previously, numerous experts have warned against the use of the Russian vaccine.
Two days ago, 98 members of the General Assembly of the Medical System of the Islamic Republic in an open letter addressed to President Hassan Rouhani emphasized that as representatives of the medical community in various cities across the country, they oppose the purchase of “Sputnik V” vaccine and are calling for the purchase of “the best available vaccines in the world from multinational companies.”
In the production of reputable multinational vaccines that have so far received approval from international bodies, American and British companies are involved.
Ayatollah Khamenei, however, has banned the import of such vaccines. The leader of the Islamic Republic on January 9th, without providing expert justifications, declared that in his view American and British vaccines are ineffective.
The Sputnik vaccine received national approval for use in Russia approximately six months ago while necessary information about the final stages of its clinical trials has still not been presented to independent bodies and the World Health Organization. The European Union has the vaccine under review, and the first comprehensive research on it was recently published in the scientific journal Lancet, indicating its 91 percent efficacy.
In the letter from members of the General Assembly of the Medical System, published before the Lancet research was published, while noting that “the efficacy and safety” of the Sputnik V vaccine “is facing ambiguity and objections even in the producing country,” they explained their reasons for opposition as follows:
“A: Transparent information about the research and manufacturing stages of Sputnik V vaccine is not available.
B: Sputnik V vaccine has not been approved by any of the reputable international sources and its efficacy and safety have been questioned by international bodies and even scientific figures of the coronavirus taskforce.
C: Documents, evidence and reasons for approving this vaccine have not been provided to experts in the medical community.”
The letter further states that for “Iran’s medical community and people” such consideration in this matter is “unacceptable and unforgivable.”
Earlier, Minoo Mohraz, a member of the scientific committee of the Coronavirus Taskforce, had said that she considers the import of Russian vaccine “bad luck for the Iranian people” and is not willing to have it injected.
Use of Russian vaccine in the European Union is currently not permitted
Russia last Friday, January 29th, announced that it is ready to provide 100 million doses of “Sputnik V” vaccine to European countries, with which 50 million people can be vaccinated.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper on Sunday, January 31st, quoted Germany’s Health Minister in this regard as saying: “If a vaccine is evaluated as effective and safe, regardless of which country it is produced in, it can help combat the coronavirus pandemic.”
He emphasized that the determining factor in this regard is the regular issuance of approval for each vaccine in accordance with European Union regulations. The “European Medicines Agency” is the only decision-making body for issuing approval for medicines and vaccines in European countries.
However, this agency has so far not approved any Chinese or Russian vaccine, and given the prerequisite that Germany’s health minister called decisive, at least for now there is no possibility of using vaccines produced by these two countries in the European Union.
Russia claims that it has submitted the application for approval of the Sputnik vaccine to the European Medicines Agency.
So far, three coronavirus vaccines in which pharmaceutical companies from Germany, America and Britain are involved in their production have been approved by the “European Medicines Agency” and are being used in European countries: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines.
