Official: Iran to Begin Phase III Trial for COVID-19 Vaccine in June

“The third phase of the trial, which normally monitors the impacts and effectiveness of the vaccine on a relatively large population, would be carried out in a limited form in the country,” Qaneyee said.

“For the next (Iranian) year we have the hope that we could start the human injection on a certain level,” he added.

Qaneyee expressed the hope that the two earlier phases of the vaccine testing would fully end by the end of March, 2021.  

He said the Iranian-made vaccine would be significantly cheaper than those produced in major economies, including several brands being developed in China.

“If we view the Chinese vaccine as having the lowest price, it will be $12 but the Iranian vaccine will cost us $7,” Qaneyee added.

The Iranian health ministry officials have declared that they would place orders for foreign-made vaccines once they have passed effectiveness and safety tests.

That comes as the government has relied on home-grown efforts to combat COVID-19 as its main strategy since the disease was first reported in Iran in late February.

Several groups have been carrying out research and trials to come up with a vaccine for the virus, including a partnership between Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, the Pasteur Institute of Iran and several start-up companies.

Reports show the Iranian vaccines have shown promise in early stages of the trials, including in tests on animals.

The Iranian health ministry announced on Friday that 11,737 new cases of coronavirus infection have been identified across the country during the past 24 hours, adding that 461 patients have passed away during the same period.

“11,737 new patients infected with COVID-19 have been identified in the country based on confirmed diagnosis criteria during the past 24 hours,” Iranian Health Ministry Spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said on Friday, and added, “2,967 patients have been hospitalized during the same time span.”

She added that the total number of COVID-19 patients has increased to 738,322.

“Unfortunately, 461 patients have lost their lives in the past 24 hours, increasing the number of the dead to 40,582,” the spokeswoman noted.

Lari expressed satisfaction that 546,642 coronavirus patients have recovered or been discharged from hospitals so far.

The spokeswoman further said that 5,630 cases infected with COVID-19 are in critical conditions.

She went on to say that 5,424,479 coronavirus diagnosis tests have so far been carried out across the country.

Lari warned that 31 provinces are still marked red or in the status of alert.

Last month, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that the people and businesspersons who do not care about health and hygiene anti-coronavirus orders and do not wear masks will face harsh punishment.

“Harsh punishment will be approved for a person who is aware of his disease (coronavirus) and does not respect the instructions,” President Rouhani said, addressing a meeting of the national coronavirus campaign headquarters in Tehran.

He added that it was approved today that anyone in the administrative sector, governmental or private, who does not care about the hygiene instructions will receive punishment, from warning to suspension of job for one year, noting that the businesses and shops which do not obey the orders will face closure.

Rouhani said that the banks, offices and businesses should not render service to people who violate health instructions otherwise the owner of the business will be punished.

The Iranian president had also announced in September efforts to increase the number of hospital beds in medical centers amid the country’s hard battle against the coronavirus outbreak and US sanctions.

Inaugurating several important national projects through video conferencing, Rouhani said that by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2021) more than 10,000 beds will be added to the current capacity of hospitals across the country.

Early in August, President Rouhani lauded Iranians for observing coronavirus-related instructions set by the health ministry, and noted that obligatory protocols will persist until discovering the vaccine.

Everybody should follow the instructions announced by the National Anti-Coronavirus Campaign Headquarters so that we overcome the virus and the related vaccine is made, Rouhani noted.

Those provinces which had already been in red conditions passed the coronavirus peak today, President Rouhani said.

He appreciated the nation for cooperating with the health officials in fighting the COVID-19.

Rouhani said in June that over 1,000 medical centers in the country have received necessary equipment to conduct tests on people suspected of infection to coronavirus, and added that Iran ranks first in the Muslim world in scientific achievements.

“Based on a report [by the health ministry], 1,200 centers across the country are ready to take samples and tests from people and 17,500 nursing and health homes are also prepared to provide hygiene and treatment services to people,” Rouhani said, addressing a meeting of the national coronavirus campaign headquarters in Tehran.

Also, in August, he said that 1,500 hospital beds for special cases have also been added to the capacity of the country’s medical system since the outbreak of coronavirus in the country, noting that 2 drug production lines are also added every month to the country’s pharmaceutical capacity.

The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting approximately all countries and territories around the world. The virus was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. It has so far killed over 1.3 million people and infected more than 53.1 million others globally.

The Iranian foreign ministry declared that despite Washington’s claims of cooperation to transfer drugs to Iran via the new Swiss-launched payment mechanism, the US is troubling the process amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Although US claims that medicines and medical equipment are not under sanctions, they have practically blocked the transfer of Iran’s financial resources in other countries into the Swiss Humanitarian Trade Arrangement (SHTA), former Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Mousavi said.

As the death toll from the virus surges, Iran intensifies its preventive safety measures. Closures of schools and most universities have been extended until further notice.

Rouhani on September 12 blasted the US administration for blocking the country’s efforts to receive loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to fight against coronavirus, saying that the American officials have forgotten humanity.

“We demanded the IMF for $5bln to assist us during the coronavirus outbreak for vaccine and medicine; all parties have voiced their agreement, but the US does not allow us to take the loan. They have distanced themselves from humanity to such an extent,” Rouhani said.

He added that even the friendly states whose banks are holding Iran’s money have been pressured by the US not to provide the country with access to its assets.

“History has not witnessed such a crime, as you may not find any other country that cannot withdraw money from foreign banks to purchase and import medicine for its people,” Rouhani said.

He, meantime, said that the Americans are angry with the Iranian government’s appropriate management of the coronavirus outbreak despite the harshest-ever sanctions imposed on the country.

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