Iran President Unveils Plan to Purchase COVID-19 Vaccine


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on the country’s Health Ministry to make all the arrangements necessary for the purchase of vaccines so far developed by other countries against the novel coronavirus.

All the essential arrangements need to be made in order to acquire doses of COVID-19 vaccine produced by other countries, Rouhani told Health Minister Saeed Namaki.

The vaccines should be procured soon and undergo all the tests and trials inside Iran as the country is facing the second wave of the COVID-19 crisis, he added.

Rouahni further urged people to observe all health protocols and help the country’s health authorities and personnel effectively fight the viral infection.

Russia said on August 11 that it had developed the world’s first vaccine offering “sustainable immunity” against COVID-19 and was in the final stage of human trials.

On August 12, Namaki said a number of vaccines for the novel coronavirus being developed inside the country had successfully passed the human tests and were ready for clinical trial.

Iranian Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said on Sunday that the total number of coronavirus cases in the country has reached 373,570.

“With 103 new deaths in the past 24 hours, the death toll from the virus has reached 21,462. Unfortunately, we had 1,754 new cases since yesterday,” Lari said during her daily press briefing.

Fortunately, 321,421 patients have so far recovered from the viral infection, she added.

The number of people infected with COVID-19 across the world has surpassed 25.1 million and the death toll has exceeded 847,000.