IRGC Deputy Coordinator: IRGC and Basij forces should not take foreign coronavirus vaccines

The deputy coordinator of the Revolutionary Guards has said that the IRGC and Basij forces are advised to refrain from injecting foreign coronavirus vaccines, and that the institution will not participate in the vaccination of imported vaccines.

On Thursday, January 25, Mohammad Reza Naqdi emphasized that "we are not in charge of the country's healthcare and treatment and do not interfere in specialized decisions in this field," and stated: "However, given the advice of experts, the serious doubts of world experts, and the bad records of some current producers of the coronavirus vaccine, we do not recommend that IRGC and Basij personnel be injected with foreign coronavirus vaccines due to their specific mechanism of action."

This senior IRGC commander's opposition to foreign vaccines comes at a time when Islamic Republic officials had previously considered the spread of the coronavirus to be part of biological warfare in the international arena.

In April of this year, the Leader of the Islamic Republic accused the United States of creating the coronavirus and opposed Washington's offer to help Tehran combat the virus.

In his Nowruz speech, Ali Khamenei claimed: "It is said that part of this virus was produced specifically for Iran."

However, in recent weeks, concerns have been expressed on social media about the Iranian government's inability to purchase foreign vaccines. However, on Thursday, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran announced initial approval to transfer foreign currency to purchase the coronavirus vaccine.

According to official statistics provided by the Ministry of Health, more than 54,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Iran so far, and nearly 1.2 million people have been infected with the disease. However, critics say that the number of patients and victims of Corona in Iran is much higher than these figures.

We "do not participate" in vaccination

Mohammad Reza Naqdi also said, "We will not participate in the general vaccination of imported vaccines; of course, the decision for the general population of the country is made by the Ministry of Health. But if the domestically produced coronavirus vaccine reaches the general vaccination stage, we are willing to repeat the epic of the mobilization in eradicating polio."

It is not yet clear when the "Iranian Corona vaccine" will be available to the public, but Minoo Mahrez, the lead researcher of the Iranian Corona vaccine production project and a member of the scientific committee of the Corona Countermeasures Headquarters, said earlier this week that the first phase of human testing of this vaccine "will probably begin in the first week of January."

According to him, the institution that is supposed to conduct human testing of the domestic vaccine is "affiliated with the Executive Headquarters of the Imam's Decree."

In this context, Hojjat Niki Maleki, head of the information center of the "Imam's Decree Executive Headquarters", has also said that 9,911 people have expressed their willingness to participate in clinical trials of the Iranian coronavirus vaccine.

The Executive Headquarters of the Imam's Decree is an economic institution under the supervision of the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran and also holds the monopoly on mask production in the country.

Source: Radio Farda