TEHRAN – The government of Croatia has sent a consignment of AstraZeneca vaccines to Iran, comprising 288,000 doses of the vaccine for coronavirus.

“Following coordination with the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and cooperation of the Iranian embassy in Brussels, 288,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines donated by Croatia were delivered to the Ministry of Health within the EUCPM framework of the European Union,” Iranian Ambassador to Croatia Parviz Esmaili wrote on his Twitter account on Tuesday.

The EU Civil Protection Mechanism (EUCPM) aims to improve prevention, preparedness, and response to disasters.

On April 9, Bulgaria delivered 2.83 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to the country, IRNA reported.

The doses were delivered and were welcomed at a ceremony attended by Bulgaria’s ambassador to Iran, Nikolina Kuneva.

Iran also received 2,191,500 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines donated by the German government in March.

However, Iran is the sixth country in the world and the first country in West Asia to gain the ability to produce the Coronavirus vaccine.

The country is able to produce 600 million doses of vaccine against coronavirus annually thanks to the capacity of knowledge-based companies, according to Bahram Daraei, head of the Food and Drug Administration.

A total of 21 knowledge-based companies are operating to produce 50 million doses of vaccine monthly and 600 million doses annually.

MG