TEHRAN – Iran has signed an agreement for coproducing the Russian-made COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, in the country.

Considering Iran's high capacity in the vaccine production sector, the two countries agreed to coproduce the vaccine in Iran, IRNA quoted Kazem Jalali, the ambassador of Iran to the Russian Federation, as saying on Saturday.

In this line, a delegation from the Iranian health ministry will head to Moscow by the next 10 days, he added.

He went on to say that the first shipment of the Russian vaccine will be sent to Tehran in the next few days.

The second and third shipments will be received by the end of February, and the same procedure will continue every two or four weeks, Jalali noted.

With the coproduction of the Russian vaccine, Iran can meet its domestic needs and play as an export hub in the region, he highlighted.

On Thursday, it was announced that Iran’s Food and Drug Administration has issued a permit to both import and coproduce the Russian vaccine.

The vaccine made by the Gamaleya Center of Russia will be imported in the form of single-dose and five-dose vials.

People be sure of Sputnik V safety

Mass Sputnik V vaccination against COVID-19 has been underway in Russia for several months, and some Russian officials, as well as the military, medical staff, teachers, and professors have been vaccinated, so Russian scientists and officials are confident in its safety, Jalali stated.

On the other hand, about three million people have been vaccinated inside Russia so far, and so far no side effects have been reported among those who received it, he added.

He went on to emphasize that the most important point in the safety and efficacy of this vaccine is that many countries, for example, Turkey, the UAE, India, Hungary, and South Korea have signed agreements with Russia to vaccinate their citizens and also co-produce the vaccine.

Iran-Cuba vaccine

Iran has previously started joint production of the COVID-19 vaccine with Cuba, which has passed the first phase of human testing with success.

Iran’s coronavirus vaccine jointly made with Cuba has successfully passed the first stage of the clinical trial and the second stage is underway in Cuba, which will soon enter the final stage, Alireza Vahabzadeh, an adviser to the health minister, wrote on his Twitter account on January 11.

COVID-19 daily new cases and mortalities

In a press briefing on Saturday, Health Ministry’s spokesperson Sima-Sadat Lari confirmed 6,317 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of infections to 1,411,731. She added that 1,202,893 patients have so far recovered, but 3,964 remain in critical conditions of the disease.

During the past 24 hours, 82 patients have lost their lives, bringing the total number of deaths to 57,889, she added.

So far, 9,230,386 COVID-19 diagnostic tests have been performed in the country. 

Lari noted that currently, 18 cities are in medium-risk “orange” zones, and 124 in low-risk “yellow” zones.

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