Covid Vaccine Imports Exceed 106m Doses

EghtesadOnline: The 69th shipment of Covid-19 vaccines was imported to Iran from China on Sunday, according to Mehrdad Jamal Arvanaghi, the technical deputy of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration.

News ID: ۷۸۷۱۷۳

18 October 2021

The shipment contained six million doses of Sinopharm vaccine, ILNA reported.

With the arrival of the shipment, the total imported Covid-19 vaccine imports reached 106.25 million doses.

The Chinese-made jabs account for the lion’s share of Covid vaccines imported into Iran followed by AstraZeneca, COVAX, Sputnik V and Bharat (COVAXIN).

Iran is supplied with weekly shipments of Sinopharm as part of containment efforts.

The official noted that 1 million doses of AstraZeneca were imported from Poland on Oct. 16, adding that the next shipment will be 1 million doses of AstraZeneca from Germany.

Besides China and Germany, Iran imports Covid jabs from Russia, Japan, Italy, Russia, India, Austria, South Korea and Greece.

The total value of all Covid-19 vaccines imported to Iran from Feb. 3 to Sept. 12 stood at $421 million, Arvanaghi said earlier.

“Each Sinopharm vaccine made in China costs $9.2, AstraZeneca made in China $4, AstraZeneca made in Japan $4, COVAX made in Italy $4, Sputnik V made in Russia $10, AstraZeneca made in Russia $6.5, COVAX made in South Korea $4 and AstraZeneca made in Austria $4 and Bharat [COVAXIN] made in India $14.5,” he said.

The official noted that some of the imported vaccines have been donated to Iran and the import process continues.

The vaccination process in Iran has gained pace, as the new administration led by Ebrahim Raeisi has put it on top of its agenda.

Anyone over the age of 12 is now eligible to get a coronavirus vaccine shot in Iran.

The Health Ministry said on Saturday that more than 48 million Iranians have so far received the first dose of the vaccine, with over 23 million individuals having received the second dose.

The number of new coronavirus cases detected in Iran during the past 24 hours stands at 7,500, the Health Ministry said, adding that 7,515 new cases of infection were found during the period.

Out of 5.77 million infected people, 5.3 million have recovered or discharged from hospitals so far, Tasnim News Agency reported.

The country has recorded 4,840 coronavirus patients in critical condition and intensive care units in the past 24 hours, the report added, citing the Health Ministry.