“With the efforts and serious follow-ups in the last one year, we paved a 20-year-long road and we are witnessing the distribution and production of Iranian [Coronavirus] vaccine,” Namaki told reporters in the Central city of Kashan.
He referred to COV-Iran Barekat vaccine which received license for emergency injection yesterday, and said other Iran-made vaccines will also be licensed one after another and will be distributed in the country soon.
“Iran will be one of the largest producers of coronavirus vaccine in the world by the end of Summer,” Namaki said.
"We faced a shortage of vaccines due to the malpractices and violation of undertakings by foreign countries with which Iran had contracts [on supply of vaccines], but thanks God, the problems have been resolved and we will not have any problem with regard to the distribution of vaccines from next week," he added.
Namaki had announced on Monday that Iran has issued the license for the emergency use of the home-made COV-Iran Barekat vaccine.
“Today, I want to give you the good news that the license to use the Iranian COV-Iran Barekat vaccine was issued yesterday,” Namaki said, addressing a ceremony in the Central province of Markazi.
Noting the coronavirus vaccine produced jointly by Iran’s Pasteur Institute and Cuba, he said the license for the emergency use of that vaccine will also be issued next week as his ministry needs to first complete studies on the relevant documents presented by the Pasteur Institute.
“So Barekat vaccine joins our vaccination process and Pasteur's vaccine will join the vaccination campaign next week,” Namaki said.
Iranian Deputy Health Minister Alireza Rayeesi announced on Saturday that the country’s target population will be vaccinated against COVID-19 virus by the end of the Iranian year (March 20, 2022).
“We will definitely give the first dose of the vaccine to all target groups by the end of the [Iranian] year,” Rayeesi said.
He added that 200,000 university professors and personnel of the universities will be vaccinated in August, noting that 500,000 university students will also be vaccinated against coronavirus in September.
“This number will increase to one million among the university students in October, and we will vaccinate another one million students in November. Those students who might remain would receive the vaccine in December,” Rayeesi said.
He also underlined the need for purchasing vaccine from China to vaccinate the above 5-year-old children to open the schools.
Head of the COV-Iran Barekat vaccine project at the Headquarters for the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order (HEIKO) Hassan Jalili announced late last month production of 1mln doses of coronavirus vaccine in the country, saying that the capacity for the production of the home-made vaccine will increase to over 18mln doses in September.
“Mass-production of vaccines has been on agenda since the day we started the clinical trial phase; now we have two production lines in Shafafarmed company and the second industrial phase will be put into operation in the near future,” Jalili said.
He noted that the industrial production phase of the COV-Iran vaccine began a few weeks ago, and added, “Now we have produced one million doses of vaccines and we are ready to provide them to the health ministry after going through the legal procedures.”
“We are trying to produce 3 million doses of vaccine in June. We will increase the capacity in July and we will produce more than 18 million doses in September, while our researchers have also increased the efficiency of the vaccine,” Jalili said.
Also, Namaki announced in May that the country’s people will soon be vaccinated against COVID-19 with home-made vaccines.
“The first injection of Iran-made vaccines alongside the imported vaccines will be made in the current month (of Khordad which started on May 22),” Namaki said in the Western city of Ilam.
He added that the general vaccination program will continue in the next phases in summer.