Iran has received 250,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine from China as the country continues the nationwide vaccination of priority groups.
The vaccine consignment arrived at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport on Sunday morning.
Iran’s Food and Drug Organization had already authorized the conditional emergency import and use of the Sinopharm vaccine.
In recent weeks, Iran has imported two batches of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, containing 120,000 doses in total.
The vaccination drive against the coronavirus pandemic began in Iran on February 9, with the frontline health workers receiving the Sputnik V vaccine.
The second phase of the rollout started on Thursday covering other vulnerable groups such as the elderly, the disabled and those injured during the 1980s Iraq-imposed war.
Kianoush Jahanpour, spokesman of Iran’s Food and Drug Organization, tweeted on Saturday that the inoculation of the COVID-19 vaccine to medical staff, the elderly and the war veterans living in nursing homes will reach 110,000 doses this week.
The first phase of vaccinations will continue until Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, he said, adding that there will be no changes in the prioritization of the vaccination program and no VIP jabs.
In addition to the Russian and Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, Iran is expected to receive 16.8 million doses of vaccines from COVAX, a multi-agency group dedicated to assuring fair access to vaccines for low- and middle-income countries.
Meanwhile Iran plans to start the mass production of Russia’s Sputnik V anti-coronavirus vaccines after Tehran and Moscow reached an agreement.
Iran also signed an agreement with Cuba last month to cooperate in the production of a vaccine called Soberana 2, which is now undergoing the human phase trials by the Cuban Finlay Institute and the Pasteur Institute of Iran.
At the same time, Iranian scientists have been working on domestic vaccines, two of which - named COVIran Barekat and Razi COV-Pars - are currently in the human trial phase.