TEHRAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2021) The first shipment of foreign-made coronavirus vaccines will likely be delivered to Iran via the World Health Organization-led COVID-19 vaccine procurement and distribution initiative, the COVAX Facility, Mostafa Ghaneie, the head of the Iranian Scientific Committee of Coronavirus Combat and Prevention Headquarters, said.
"As for the purchase of foreign vaccines, it seems that the first batch will be shipped to Iran through the COVAX fund ... which will probably take place at the end of the month of Bahman [penultimate month of the Solar Hijri Calendar, ends on February 18]," Ghaneie said, as quoted by the state-run IRNA news agency.
Iran will also receive vaccines directly purchased from a number of countries, the official added.
Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Tehran had approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus and expressed hope that its joint production would start soon.
High-risk groups, including healthcare workers and the elderly, will be the first to receive the vaccines.
Earlier in January, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared a ban on imports of COVID-19 vaccines from the United Kingdom and the United States.
Iran also began the human trials of its first domestic coronavirus vaccine, Covo-Iran, in late December and said that no side effects were detected so far.
To date, Iran has confirmed over 1.3 million COVID-19 cases, including more than 57,000 related deaths and over 1.1 million recoveries.
