TEHRAN – Iranian-made coronavirus vaccine has been injected into 21 people through the first phase, which has not yet reported any serious side effects so far, Minoo Mohraz, member of the National Headquarters for Coronavirus Control has stated.

COVIRAN BAREKAT, the first coronavirus vaccine made by Iranian researchers of the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, was unveiled and injected into three volunteers during a ceremony on December 29, 2020.

On January 11, the second dose of the vaccine was injected into the three volunteers.

So far, 21 people have received the first dose of the vaccine, and the permission is issued to inject a group of 14 people. This number should reach 56 people to pass the first clinical study phase.

Pointing out that the first phase of the human study will probably be completed by the end of February, she said that according to the second phase studies, the clinical trial will probably start with 300 volunteers.

The vaccine is given in two doses every two weeks. Some volunteers have already received a second dose, which fortunately has no side effects, she highlighted, ISNA reported on Monday.

She went on to note that If all three phases of the human trial are successful, the vaccine can be mass-produced in June.

Mohammad Mokhber, the head of the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam said on January 19 that over the next month, 2-4 million doses of vaccine will be produced monthly, which will soon reach up to 4-24 million doses.

On January 18, the second homegrown COVID-19 vaccine developed and proposed by the Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute has been approved to begin a clinical trial.

Mass vaccination by next 2 months

On January 17, President Hassan Rouhani said the government is trying its best to start mass vaccination against the coronavirus by the next two months with the priority given to medical staff and high-risk individuals.

The COVAX vaccines will be provided to the country by the end of the current [Iranian calendar] year (March 20) or at the beginning of the next [Iranian calendar] year, Rouhani said at a meeting of the National Headquarters for Coronavirus Control.

Other vaccines have also been purchased which will be available soon, he noted, adding, a co-produced vaccine called “Pasteur” will also be mass-produced during the spring.

Referring to the homegrown vaccines, he announced that two domestic vaccines that have been licensed for the clinical trial will also be available by the next summer.

Covid-19 new cases, toll 

In a press briefing on Monday, Health Ministry’s spokesperson Sima-Sadat Lari confirmed 6,309 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of infections to 1,379,286. She added that 1,171,070 patients have so far recovered, but 4,057 remain in critical conditions of the disease.

During the past 24 hours, 89 patients have lost their lives, bringing the total number of deaths to 57,481, she added.

So far, 8,960,186 COVID-19 diagnostic tests have been performed in the country.

Lari noted that currently, 18 cities are in medium-risk “orange” zones, and 154 in low-risk “yellow” zones.

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