Hemmati: Iran has made an advance payment for the purchase of more than 16 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine

The head of Iran's Central Bank says Tehran has deposited the advance payment for the purchase of 16.8 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine through the COVAX program into the World Health Organization's campaign account.

Abdolnaser Hemmati added in an Instagram post on Tuesday, January 6, that the money was paid in cooperation with "two Iranian banks" and "three European banks" on the first day after the January holidays.

According to him, "we have allocated much more money" to purchase the vaccine, "which will be provided with foreign exchange if approved by the Ministry of Health."

The head of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic did not mention the amount of the deposit or the type of vaccine that Iran is going to purchase.

In another part of his Instagram post, Mr. Hemmati claimed that the aforementioned advance payment was made despite "harassing obstacles caused by US sanctions."

Mahmoud Vaezi, the head of the Iranian presidential office, said on January 1 that Iran had signed a contract to purchase 16.5 million doses of foreign vaccines through the COVAX program, and negotiations to purchase four million doses of vaccines from China were also underway.

The COVAX program, which is being followed by 76 countries around the world, is under the supervision of the World Health Organization and aims to help purchase and distribute the coronavirus vaccine in all countries around the world.

The advance payment for the purchase of the Corona vaccine comes at a time when Islamic Republic officials, including Mr. Hemmati, have claimed over the past two months, in response to criticism of the failure to purchase the Corona vaccine, that US sanctions are preventing this from happening.

This is despite the fact that the United States has repeatedly denied imposing a pharmaceutical embargo on Iran.

There has been much discussion in recent weeks about purchasing a foreign vaccine. Some government officials, especially members of parliament, have called for prioritizing domestic vaccine production, and the deputy coordinator of the Revolutionary Guards has also announced that IRGC personnel will not use a foreign coronavirus vaccine.

Meanwhile, many users on social media have called for the government to prioritize purchasing foreign vaccines with the hashtag "Buy Vaccine."

It is not yet clear when Iran's custom-made vaccines will be delivered, as countries around the world have pre-purchased many doses of vaccines in the testing phase, especially Pfizer and Moderna, in recent months.

Source: Radio Farda