Unveiling of ‘Fakhra’ Vaccine by Islamic Republic; Associated Press Report on Ineffective Vaccination Campaign in Iran

Iranian health authorities announced on Tuesday that the country’s third vaccine has reached the clinical trial phase. The Associated Press news agency views the separate efforts of various institutions in Iran to produce at least six different vaccines as evidence of widespread factional competition within Iran.

The ‘Fakhra’ vaccine was produced by the ‘Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research’ (SPND), affiliated with Iran’s Ministry of Defense. The vaccine was administered at a unveiling ceremony to the son of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was a senior manager of Iran’s nuclear and missile programs who was killed on December 27 near Tehran. According to Iranian authorities, 20,000 volunteers in Tehran and other cities will receive the new ‘Fakhra’ vaccine.

According to the Associated Press report, Iran has so far imported vaccines from Russia, China, Cuba, and India, which can cover more than 1.2 million people from the country’s population of 80 million.

Details of Iranian vaccine production have not been released; however, two other Iranian-produced vaccines are also in clinical trial phases, according to the Associated Press report, with the most advanced one, the ‘Barkat’ vaccine, having been tested on only 300 people.

Meanwhile, Iranian media reported the start of operations at an Iranian vaccine production factory that, according to the government’s claims, is capable of producing 3 million doses of vaccine per day. The ‘Fakhra’ vaccine, like the ‘Barkat’ vaccine, uses a traditional method for vaccine preparation and uses inactivated coronavirus to stimulate the body’s immune system.

The Associated Press views Iran’s disorganized approach to domestic vaccine production and the separate efforts of various institutions to produce at least six different vaccines as evidence of widespread factional competition within Iran.

Last month, Iran launched its vaccination campaign in the country by administering the Russian-made ‘Sputnik V’ vaccine to medical personnel.

Previously, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, had banned imports of American and British vaccines.

However, Iran announced that it will receive more than 4 million doses of vaccine produced by Oxford University and AstraZeneca through a World Health Organization program called ‘COVAX’.

Iran’s Ministry of Health has committed to vaccinating all adults in the country by the end of summer, but there is no clear plan to reach this ambitious goal.

While the Islamic Republic cites the sanctions imposed by former U.S. President Donald Trump as an obstacle to vaccine procurement, the Washington Post, quoting a spokesperson for the ‘COVAX’ program, wrote that there is no legal obstacle to Iran’s purchase of vaccines.

Source: Voice of America