Deliveries of the Russian coronavirus drug Sputnik V make it possible to start vaccination in Iran ahead of schedule. This was announced by Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki.
"Thanks to the importation of a batch of Russian Sputnik V, vaccination against the coronavirus will begin in Iran this coming Tuesday, February 9," the Iranian IRNA news agency reported him as saying. Namaki added that "priority will be given to staff in intensive care units in Iranian clinics," and the next step will be to vaccinate "the rest of the medical staff, citizens in nursing homes and people over the age of 65."
Earlier last week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that mass vaccination against the coronavirus in the country using foreign drugs would begin by February 18. The first stage of the vaccination will involve drugs from Russia, China and India. The use of Iranian-made vaccines is scheduled to begin in the country in April.
The first batch of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine was delivered to Tehran on February 4.
According to the Iranian Ministry of Health, the number of people infected with the coronavirus has now reached almost 1,453,000, and the total number of deaths has exceeded 58,000.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: sputnikvaccine.com
Based on materials from TASS