Iran, Russia Preparing Meeting on Coronavirus Vaccine Production: Envoy

"The phone conversations in April-October 2020 between the presidents of Iran and Russia underlined Iran’s interest in cooperation with Russia in the field of producing the coronavirus vaccine and exchanging the experience. Currently, Russian documents on the vaccines are being studied. It has been decided that soon a personal meeting will take place," Iranian Ambassador Kazem Jalali said in an interview with Izvestia newspaper published on Sunday.

The ambassador also noted that although Iran had declared the launch of the first phase of testing the first Iranian vaccine on humans, the country was still considering all vaccines being produced, including the Russian one.

Iran’s Health Minister Saeed Namaki said yesterday that a homegrown vaccine for the coronavirus will be definitely ready for use by the end of spring.

He also gave an assurance that the pilgrims planning to take part in the next year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia will have access to both the domestically-made vaccine and vaccines purchased from other countries.

He also warned of the coronavirus mutation in Iran given the country’s ethnic and genetic diversity, saying such mutation would be more probable than in some other parts of the world.

Last week, the first human trial in Iran of a homegrown coronavirus vaccine began in Tehran.

President Hassan Rouhani says Iran is on par with other countries in combating the coronavirus pandemic, giving an assurance that his administration has made arrangements to obtain reliable vaccines from abroad and develop a homegrown vaccine for the disease as well.