Rouhani Says First Batch of Coronavirus Vaccine Will Enter Country in Coming Weeks
Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran, announced on Tuesday the purchase of coronavirus vaccine and the start of vaccination in the coming weeks.
Hassan Rouhani, in a meeting of the heads of specialized committees of the National Corona Coronavirus Combat Headquarters, without mentioning the type, quantity and conditions of coronavirus vaccine purchase, said: “Providing coronavirus vaccine is among the country’s priorities.”
According to Hassan Rouhani, the government is determined to begin vaccination operations in the country within the coming weeks with the arrival of the first batch of purchased vaccine, in accordance with the schedule designed for the target population.
Simultaneously, a member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution announced the purchase of more than 42 million doses of coronavirus vaccine. However, this official did not announce the type of vaccine purchased.
According to IRNA, Mansour Kabganian, Deputy Head of the Steering Committee for Implementation of the Country’s Comprehensive Scientific Map, said that COVID-19 vaccine is being prepared through three methods.
According to Mansour Kabganian, 16.8 million doses were obtained through COVAX, which was Iran’s condition for the World Health Organization (WHO) that this vaccine would not be based on the American Pfizer platform. The next figure is 25 million doses of vaccine through import other than the World Health Organization (WHO).
Mansour Kabganian predicted that 25 million doses of vaccine would also be supplied by domestic manufacturers and technologists and knowledge-based companies by Ordibehesht or at the latest by Khordad 1400 (May-June 2021).
This member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution emphasized that not purchasing vaccine from a few countries that Iran has identified as enemies was emphasized because, according to him, some of these vaccines are based on unknown platforms.
The Leader of the Islamic Republic announced on the 19th of Dey that the entry of American and British coronavirus vaccines into Iran is “prohibited.”
Khamenei’s remarks on preventing the entry of certain vaccines faced extensive negative reactions inside and outside the country, and many users on social networks described his order as “hostage-taking.”
In this regard, Amnesty International called Khamenei’s order a gamble with the lives of millions of people, and officials of the World Health Organization also asked the Iranian government not to make the vaccine issue political.
Nevertheless, in Iran’s political atmosphere, a wave of statements from parliament representatives and government officials emerged in praise of the remarks of Iran’s government leader and against foreign vaccines, especially the American Pfizer vaccine.
The pessimism of Iranian government officials, especially Ali Khamenei, in this regard has precedent. He had previously declared that the coronavirus was created by America.
Source: Radio Farda
