Iran announces emergency use of domestic Covid vax

Tehran : Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki has announced the emergency use of a domestic vaccine for Covid-19. The emergency use of COVIran Barakat financed by the Barakat Foundation has been authorised, Namaki said at a conference in the central city of Arak on Monday. The COVIran vaccine has gone through three clinical trial stages, the last of which involved 20,000 people in the cities of Tehran, Bushehr, Shiraz, Karaj, Mashhad and Isfahan, Xinhua news agency quoted the local Tasnim media outlet as saying in a report. Moreover, another vaccine developed jointly by Cuba and the Pasteur Institute of Iran will be authorised next week, Namaki added. Iran has already introduced Covid-19 vaccines from Russia, India, China and South Korea for 4,354,445 people across the country. According to the World Health Organization, Iran has so far administered 4,553,653 vaccine doses so far. The country, one of the worst-hit in the Middle East, has registered a total of 3,028,717 coronavirus cases and 82,098 deaths.