Health Minister Hails Leader’s Decision to Ban Purchase of US, UK Vaccines
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s minister of health lauded Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei’s wise decision to forbid buying American and British vaccines for the coronavirus, providing scientific reasons for the ban.
Speaking at a provincial meeting of the Coronavirus Fight Headquarters on Sunday, Health Minister Saeed Namaki said he knew very well why the Leader has prohibited the import of US and UK-made vaccines for COVID-19.
He pointed to the severe difficulties and major obstacles that Iran has encountered in supplying medicine for patients in dire need of mediation because of the US sanctions, saying Iran had big troubles even with the transaction of money for the purchase of coronavirus vaccine through the World Health Organization's COVAX program.
“Now, how may the Leader of a country that has suffered (American) cruelty believe that the Americans are giving us the coronavirus vaccine as a gift for our healthy people while they (US) did not allow the import (of medicine) and remittance of money for medicine for our patients?” the minister wondered.
Namaki also noted that Ayatollah Khamenei receives multiple reports in various fields, saying one of the scientific reports in the health sector about the coronavirus vaccine reveals that there are considerable doubts about efficiency of the mRNA vaccines.
The Iranian health minister argued that the mRNA vaccine has not undergone the fourth phase of clinical trials due to the lack of time amid the pandemic, saying a series of articles published in the US suggest that the mRNA vaccine could result in autoimmune diseases.
Many people in the US and the UK have refused to get the mRNA vaccine over serious concerns, Namaki added, stressing that the Leader, like the father of a family, has the right to ban the import of a suspicious product that could have harmful side effects for the citizens.
His comments came after Ayatollah Khamenei praised the Iranian vaccine for the coronavirus as a source of pride, stating, “It is a source of dignity and pride for the country. Of course, they are working on the Corona vaccine in different ways. But in one case, they are testing a vaccine on human beings and it has proven to be successful.”
The Leader also said, “Importing American or English vaccines to the country is prohibited. I have said this to the officials, and I am now announcing this publicly. If the Americans had been able to produce a vaccine, this Corona disaster would not have occurred in their own country. A few days ago, there were 4,000 deaths in their country in one day. If they know how to make a vaccine, and if their Pfizer factory knows how to produce one, they can use it for themselves so that there won’t be so many deaths there. The same is true of England. They are not trustworthy or reliable. I don’t know, perhaps they wish to test a vaccine on other nations to see if it works or not. And of course, I do not trust the French either. The reason is their history in giving us contaminated blood (France’s HIV-tainted blood supplies).”