TEHRAN– Iran’s minister of health Saeed Namaki said on Tuesday that the country will become one of the world’s biggest producers of the coronavirus vaccine by the end of summer.
In comments after opening a new hospital in the central province of Isfahan, Namaki said Iran will be known as a major producer of the coronavirus vaccine in the world by the end of summer.
He also noted that the distribution of the first Iranian vaccine for the coronavirus, the emergency use of which has just been authorized, would begin across the country today.
The minister further deplored foreign vaccine sellers for the failure to honor their commitments, saying Iran’s efforts have resolved a series of problems as the import of the COVID vaccine to Iran has resumed.
In comments on Monday, Namaki said the emergency-use authorization has been granted for COVIran Barekat, the homegrown vaccine for the coronavirus named after the pharmaceutical group that has developed it.
The minister also noted that the emergency use of another vaccine developed jointly by Cuba and the Pasteur Institute of Iran will be authorized next week.
The COVIran vaccine has gone into three stages of clinical trials, the last of which involved 20,000 people in the cities of Tehran, Bushehr, Shiraz, Karaj, Mashhad and Isfahan.
Iran has already granted emergency use authorization to Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, Covaxin made by India’s Bharat Biotech, Oxford/AstraZeneca developed by Russia’s R-Pharm Group, and the AstraZeneca-SKBio made in South Korea.

Army Opens COVID-19 Vaccination Center in Tehran

The Iranian Army opened a coronavirus vaccination center in Lavizan, a Northeastern neighborhood of Tehran.
The Coronavirus Vaccination and Health Monitoring Center became operational in Lavizan, Tehran in the presence of Iranian Army’s Deputy Commander for Coordination Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari.
With a capacity of 100 beds, the Iranian Army’s Vaccination Center is equipped with the most modern medical equipment to confront the coronavirus outbreak.
According to the commander of Army Ground Force, planning is underway for the construction of

five equipped field hospitals for COVID-19 vaccination, which is expandable to 15 field hospitals if necessary.
Iranian Deputy Minister of Health and Medical Education Dr. Iraj Harirchi also attended the inaugural ceremony of this Center.

COVID Daily Death Toll in Iran Stands at 134

On Tuesday, the Health Ministry’s spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said that the total number of people tested positive for COVID-19 in the country has surpassed 3,049,000 after the detection of 10,216 new cases.
Providing the latest statistics on the coronavirus infection, Lari said the pandemic has claimed 134 lives over the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 82,351.
More than 2,683,200 patients have recovered from the coronavirus infection so far or have been discharged from hospitals across Iran, Lari noted.
Among those undergoing treatment at present, 3,394 are being kept in the Intensive Care Units of medical centers because of critical health conditions, she said.