Iranian manufacturers expect to deliver the COVID vaccine Sputnik V to the market by the end of April, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali told Sputnik Iran.
"Two Iranian pharmaceutical manufacturers, whose facilities will produce Sputnik V, reported that they plan to deliver the vaccines to the market (for free purchase - ed.) by the end of April," he said.
Iran hopes to sign a second contract to purchase the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in mid-April, the Ambassador said.
"Now we are at the stage of concluding a second contract to buy the vaccine from the Russian Federation. Of course, this volume will be much larger than our original agreement. I hope that in two weeks all the details of this contract will be agreed upon and it will be signed. And we will eventually be able to purchase many more Sputnik V vaccines," he said.
"Another shipment is expected in early April. I hope that under the agreement with the RDIF, we will be able to increase that volume as well," he added.
Earlier, the diplomat told RIA Novosti that joint production of Sputnik V in Iran could begin in April.
According to the Ambassador, at the initial stage, the total production volume will be up to 9 million doses of the vaccine per month.
Earlier, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabei said that after Iran and Russia begin joint production of the Russian vaccine, the production volume of the drug could be at least 40 million doses per year.
Iran in January signed a cooperation agreement with Russia on the Sputnik V vaccine, including its production in the Islamic Republic. The first batch of the vaccine was delivered to Iran in early February.
Sputnik V has been registered in more than 50 countries worldwide with a total population of over 1.4 billion people. The vaccine's 91.6 percent effectiveness has been confirmed by publication in The Lancet, a leading medical journal. Sputnik V is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors. The drug uses two different vectors for two shots in the vaccination process, which forms more persistent immunity compared to vaccines that use the same delivery mechanism for both shots.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Artem Geodakyan / TASS
Based on materials from RIA Novosti