Iran Receives 1st Batch of Russian Coronavirus Vaccine

Iran

February 4th, 3:34pm

Asharq Al-Awsat

FILE PHOTO: People walk on a street in Tehran amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, Iran December 5, 2020. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran on Thursday received its first batch of foreign-made coronavirus vaccines as the country struggles to stem the worst outbreak of the pandemic in the Middle East. The shipment consists of 500,000 doses of Russian-made Sputnik V vaccines which arrived from Moscow, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. Also Iranian state TV quoted Tehran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, as saying that Iran has ordered 5 million doses from Russia. The next batches are to arrive on Feb. 18 and Feb. 28, said Jalali. Last month, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei banned Iran from importing the American Pfizer-BioNTech and Britain’s Astrazeneca vaccines, a reflection of mistrust toward the West. The coronavirus has so far infected over 1.4 million people in Iran and killed more than 58,000. The country has began working on a joint vaccine with Cuba. It is also planning to import some 17 million doses of vaccine from COVAX and millions from other countries.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2785196/iran-receives-1st-batch-russian-coronavirus-vaccine